Interactive Multifunctional Confocal Image Analysis

• Applicants: Professor Dr.-Ing. Peter Haring Bolívar; Professor Dr.-Ing. Andreas Kolb
• Subject Area: Measurement Systems ; Image and Language Processing, Computer Graphics and Visualisation, Human Computer Interaction, Ubiquitous and Wearable Computing ; Optics, Quantum Optics and Physics of Atoms, Molecules and Plasmas
• Term: from 2009 to 2018
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 152474993

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.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• Participating Person: Dr. Rainer Bornemann