Interactive Multifunctional Confocal Image Analysis

三维共焦显微镜是一种广泛应用于小样本光学分析的成像方法，广泛应用于生命科学、材料科学和信息技术等领域。目前的系统主要集中在专门的单峰分析，其目标要么是样品拓扑的测量，要么是化学标记分子的位置，要么是化学成分的无标记分析，仅举几例。然而，由于许多共焦成像技术具有影响检测信号的过多参数，因此对单峰信息的解释强烈地受专家解释的约束。尽管只在极少数例外情况下进行了研究，但多功能或多模式共聚焦分析在提供更广泛的信息基础和稳定解释歧义方面具有巨大潜力。在这个项目中，我们开发了一个由共焦拉曼显微光谱(CRM)和空间分辨瞬变吸收技术(微分共焦吸收显微镜，dCAM)组成的组合装置，并结合一个有效和高效的可视化分析工具来获得多维数据集。多模式数据的复杂性要求在实验以及数据分析和可视化方面都采用新的科学方法。在第一个项目阶段，我们可以完成将dCAM模式技术集成到我们的CRM显微镜系统中。对新系统的评估显示，dCAM信号出人意料地强而稳定，3D空间分辨率接近理论最小值。在分析方面，我们完成了第一个能够对单峰CRM数据集进行在线可视化分析的系统。在第二个项目阶段，项目的实验部分将把时间分辨的dCAM测量整合到CRM中，以便在适当的光电材料和器件选择上同时探索电荷载流子、温度动力学和化学或晶体微结构。计划中的DCAM升级为傅立叶域DCAM(FddCAM)将使我们能够重建光激活衰变机制的全时间轨迹。同时，数据分析和可视化部分将进一步扩展，以便从多模式数据集中提取相关信息，并允许对不同效果之间的复杂关系进行交互式可视化分析。这就需要新的技术来进行分层数据管理、用户指南和不确定性可视化。除了在常见分析问题方面的密切合作外，我们还将进行几项用户研究，以评估拟议的可视化和分析性数据探索方法的可用性和有效性。

3D confocal microscopy is a widely used imaging method for optical analysis of small specimens, applied in numerous fields including life sciences, material science and information technology. Current systems mainly focus on specialized monomodal analysis which target either the measurement of the sample topology, the location of chemically labeled molecules, or the label-free analysis of chemical composition, to name a few. However, the interpretation of monomodal information is strongly bound to experts interpretation, as many of the confocal imaging techniques have a plethora of parameters influencing the detected signals. Even though investigated only in a very few exceptional cases, multifunctional or multimodal confocal analysis has a huge potential to provide a broader information basis and to stabilize interpretation ambiguities. In this project, we develop a combined setup consisting of a confocal Raman microspectroscopy (CRM) and a spatially resolved transient absorption technique (differential Confocal Absorption microscopy, dCAM) in conjunction with an effective and efficient visual analysis tool for the obtained multidimensional data sets. The complexity of the multimodal data requires novel scientific approaches for both, the experimental as well as for the data analysis and visualization perspective. In the first project phase we could accomplish the technical integration of the dCAM modality into our CRM microscopy system. The evaluation of the new system revealed an unexpectedly strong and stable dCAM signal with a 3D spatial resolution close to the theoretic minimum. One the analysis side, we accomplished a first system capable of performing an online visual analysis of monomodal CRM data sets.In the second project phase, the experimental part of the project will integrate time resolved dCAM measurements into CRM in order to explore simultaneously charge carrier, temperature dynamics and the chemical or crystalline microstructure on an adequate choice of optoelectronic materials and devices. The planned upgrade of the dCAM to a fourier-domain dCAM (fddCAM) will enable us to reconstruct the full time trace of the photo activated decay mechanisms. In parallel, the data analysis and visualization part will be further extended in order to extract the relevant information from the multimodal data sets and to allows for interactive visual analysis of the complex relations between different effect. This requires new techniques for hierarchical data management, user guidance and uncertainty visualization. Besides an intense collaboration in the context of common analysis questions, we will conduct several user studies in order to evaluate the usability and effectivity of the proposed methods for visual and analytical data exploration.