Expanded Metadata Support in the Open Microscopy Environment's Bio-Formats & OMERO Data Applications

生物显微镜一直涉及“成像”：图像最初是手绘的，随着光敏胶片的出现，记录下来，然后在纸上复制。这些方法扭曲了它们记录的信号之间的关系(正式地说，它们是“非线性介质”)，使它们难以用于科学测量。然而，数字探测器在显微镜中的应用提供了适合科学使用的“线性”测量结果。这一点，再加上自动化，催生了数字成像在基础和临床研究中的使用数量和多样性的巨大增长。每个平台都会产生数GB的数据，通常是以封闭的专有文件格式。这些都是功能强大的系统，但它们的充分利用受到封闭数据以及在标准台式计算机上查看和共享大型数据集的困难的限制。开放显微镜环境(OME)建立了开放的软件工具，能够访问、分析、查看和共享这些数据。最初是为光学显微镜而构建的，我们已经成功地将这些工具扩展到电子显微镜、高含量筛选(用于制药研究中的药物发现)和数字病理学。这项建议旨在扩大OME涵盖的数据类型，特别是支持对数字图像数据进行分析和测量的输出。OME的所有软件和资源都是开源的，任何人都可以在线使用，并由管理文档和社区推广的专门团队提供支持。

Biological microscopy has always involved "imaging": images were initially hand drawn and with the advent of light-sensitive film, recorded and then reproduced on paper. These methods distorted the relationships between the signals they recorded (formally, they are "non-linear media"), making it difficult to use them for scientific measurements. However, the application of digital detectors to microscopy delivered "linear" measurements suitable for scientific use. This, combined with automation, spawned massive growth in the number and diversity of uses for digital imaging in basic and clinical research. Each platform produces many GBytes of data, usually in a closed, proprietary file format. These are powerful systems, but their full utility is limited by closed data and the difficulty of viewing and sharing large datasets on standard desktop computers. The Open Microscopy Environment (OME) has built open software tools that enable access, analysis, viewing and sharing of this data. Initially built for light microscopy, we have successfully extended these tools to electron microscopy, high content screening (used for drug discovery in pharmaceutical research) and digital pathology. This proposal seeks to extend the type of data that OME covers, specifically to support the output of analyses and measurements made on digital image data. All of OME's software and resources are open source, available on-line to anyone, and supported by a dedicated team that manages documentation and community outreach.