Integrating Technology to Improve Real-time Microscopy

ImSwitch is a microscopy control software written in Python that integrates napari for real-time data visualization as well as post-processing and data analysis. Currently, napari acts primarily as an image viewer in ImSwitch. The aim of this project is to design and implement software architecture and incorporate napari plugins that can fit with the different software components involved in microscopy experiments. Feedback from users and developers will be crucial in the design and implementation of the software interface. napari plugins are often developed for data visualization and processing of already collected data, but implementing them in ImSwitch can become a powerful tool for controlling microscopes in real time. As a result, biologists and microscope builders will have direct interaction with collected data. Therefore, napari and ImSwitch are a strong collaboration to bring microscopy control to automation and high-throughput experiments. Bringing napari to real-time data acquisition poses new challenges in synchronization and performance. By having a stable software design and implementation, the implemented plugins are open source and can be included in other projects and applications. This project will collaborate with other napari developers in order to find efficient solutions that can be beneficial for a large range of applications.