SharpStack Plug-in for Image Pro Plus

SharpStack is a plug-in module for Image-Pro Plus which allows microscopists to obtain clear images from a stack of hazy images. Its algorithm options include Nearest Neighbor, No Neighbor, Inverse Filter, and Spherical Aberration Correction. The Nearest Neighbor algorithm works by deblurring one image slice at a time. It uses information from image slices that reside above and below the image slice that is being processed. The No Neighbor method uses the information from each single slice to construct a two-dimensional pointspread function. The Inverse Filter algorithm is a one-step deconvolution technique performed in Fourier space by dividing the captured image by the pointspread function. Spherical Aberrations result from the fact that focal points of light rays far from the optic axis of a spherical lens are different from the focal points of rays of the same wavelength passing near the center. Spherical aberrations can cause a heavier tail on one side of the XZ projection of the image. They can also affect the convergence of rays from converging to one point, to converging in multiple points. The result is a haze-filled image. The Spherical Aberration algorithm in SharpStack corrects this problem.