This MacNews Category Review is part one of a round-up of Mac software for image analysis. Products covered include Attractor Explorer 3D, Brainvoyager QX, Canvas X, Carnoy, CoLocalizer Pro & CoLocalizer Express, Delta2D, Digital Image Processing, ENVI, Exbem, EyeImage, Fovea Pro, Geo3D X, he Huygens Essential Deconvolution Package and Image Processing Toolbox.

Attractor Explorer 3D

Attractor Explorer 3D (http://sourceforge.net/projects/attractor3d/) is a tool that allows the exploration and rendering of 3D strange attractors on Mac OS X using the Cocoa application programming interface.

Brainvoyager QX

Brainvoyager QX (http://www.brainvoyager.com/) is a software package for the analysis and visualization of the structure and function of the human brain. It allows neuroscientists and medical professionals to create stunning, rotatable 3D models of the working brain from MRI, CT and PET scans. The software was written in C++ and provides open file formats and scriptable programming interfaces. BrainVoyager QX uses advanced methods for statistical data analysis and for the automatic segmentation of brain structures, allowing you to co-register images from multiple modalities and to align brains of different subjects. The visualization capabilities include volume and surface rendering using OpenGL allowing "3D flights" through the brain. Reconstructed polygon meshes can be morphed to produce "flat maps" of the cortex with superimposed color-coded functional data. Reconstructions of heads and brains can be "sliced" in real-time to explore any portion of the brain.

Canvas

Canvas (http://store.acdsee.com/store/acd/en_US/DisplayProductDetailsPage/produc...) sports specialized tools that enable scientists and researchers in a range of specialized fields to measure, analyze, import and export digital image data with up to 32-bits of information per grayscale channel. Canvas X boasts an open plug-in architecture plus an array of more than 12 NIH-compliant Scientific and Binary filters, and direct import of the widely-used DICOM file format and RAW file data support.

Carnoy

Carnoy (http://www.biovolution.com/) is an image analysis program designed for carrying out measurements on digital micrographs obtained from light or electron microscopes.

CoLocalizer Pro & CoLocalizer Express

CoLocalizer Pro & CoLocalizer Express (http://homepage.mac.com/colocalizerpro/) are software products for quantitative colocalization analysis of multicolour confocal fluorescence microscopy images.

Delta2D

Delta2D (http://www.decodon.com) is software for rapid visual comparison of whole sets of 2D electrophoresis gels. It combines visual analysis, spot matching and quantitation, as well as tools for sorting, filtering and annotating spot data.

Digital Image Processing

Digital Image Processing (http://www.wolfram.com/) is a Mathematica add-on that features a range of image processing tools and handles a range of common graphics formats.

ENVI

The Environment for Visualizing Images, or ENVI (http://www.ittvis.com/), is an image processing system designed to provide turnkey panchromatic, multispectral, and hyperspectral analysis of satellite and aircraft remote sensing data as well as radar (SAR) processing. ENVI provides an environment to display and analyze images of any size and data type. A suite of common image processing functions are accessed using a point-and-click graphical user interface. ENVI can also be extended using IDL (Interactive Data Language), a data analysis and visualization programming language. It features a decision tree classifier, orthorectification for IKONOS and QuickBird data, automatic color balancing during mosaicking and more.

Exbem

Exbem (http://www.pixlock.com/) is multi-purpose software for scientific image processing and analysis. It handles single images, as well as QuickTime movies, and live video sequences. Procedures can be configured in the frame of projects. It has several operators for image/video processing and analysis available, among them basic image processors, spatial filters, temporal filters, and diverse measuring procedures. Other specialized operators are devoted to micro array analysis, focus extension in microscopy, tracking of colored markers, and flow analysis in intravital microscopy. Exbem supports IIDC-, DV-, and the SensiCam cameras for online operation (also in time-lapse mode) and recording of image sequences.

EyeImage

EyeImage (http://www.empix.com/) is a task-based image acquisition, analysis, and processing application. Tasks include digital focus, calibrated linear measurements, time lapse acquisition, and brightness over time.

Fovea Pro

Fovea Pro (http://www.reindeergraphics.com/) is a set of functions for the computer-based image processing, image analysis, and measurement of images. Running inside the familiar environment of Photoshop, it provides tools necessary for extracting quantitative information from both 8- and 16 bit per channel images (greyscale or RGB color). Fovea Pro includes over 170 plug-ins, providing tools to perform Fourier processing, rank-based processing, edge detection, automated thresholding, morphological processing (both classical and EDM based), surface processing and analysis (including fractal analysis). It also has a suite of measurement tools that includes a system for feature classification.
 
Geo3D X

Geo3D X (http://www.topoi.ch/) is a standalone 3D Metafile (3DMF) viewer with navigation (and some editing and animation) features. It lets you navigate through space rather than being limited to manipulating models. Geo3D includes editing tools for shaders, styles, lights, etc. It's available with viewpoints, picture (sequence) export, animation, dynamic coordinate planes and axes, as well as many other features. Geo3D is partly scriptable and recordable using AppleScript. Geo3D supports plug-in renderers.

Huygens Essential Deconvolution Package

The Huygens Essential Deconvolution Package (http://www.svi.nl/tiki-index.php) is an image processing software package tailored for microscopic images. Its wizard driven user interface guides you through the process of deconvolving microscopic images. Huygens Essential is able to deconvolve a wide variety of images ranging from 2D widefield (WF) images to 4D multi-channel two-photon, Nipkow disc or confocal images. To facilitate comparison of raw and deconvolved data, it's equipped with several visualization tools. Among them are a Twin Slicer, Surface renderer, MIP projection and Volume renderer. Advanced colocalization and object analysis modules are available to quantify your images in an interactive fashion.

Image Processing Toolbox

The Image Processing Toolbox (http://www.mathworks.com/products/image/) provides a suite of digital image processing and analysis tools for MATLAB. You can utilize the set of algorithms provided or modify them to develop customized tools to solve your unique image processing problems.

Next week: part two.