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Example Montage and Status

A project log for Stagmo: Microscope Stage Automator

A low-cost microscope stage automation solution that enables large scale image montages with relative ease.

jarredJarred 04/21/2015 at 20:070 Comments

Thanks for all the interest, and I apologize for the lack of updates and responses over the last year (my dissertation research got in the way). I neglected to document Stagmo as much as I should have during my graduate research, but I have uploaded an example montage (undecalficied human midshaft femur thick-section – 100~µm thick). The size of this montage was greatly reduced for internet viewing and is made up of 180 individual fields. This demonstrates the ability and weaknesses of Stagmo coupled with an imageJ stitching plugin. The software end is highly sensitive to "blank" fields, so fields with minimal features are more likely to be misaligned (as seen the medullary cavity). Since these fields typically do not have features of interest, this wasnt a big deal for my research and could be fixed in photoediting software using the raw images after stitching for the small number of montages that were problematic.

Stagmo is currently on hold, but I am happy to revive and update this project with interested individuals. There are a number of improvements that can easily be made. The first edition was significantly hindered by limited tools and materials. Future updates could include a significantly improved UI, computer triggering and interface, and the addition of automated focus control (using a simple plane capturing method). Since stagmo is design to attach to existing stages (which are typically precisely machined and expensive), the general concept should not be restricted to any specific microscope. 3D printed hubs coupled with standard hardware could provide a range of automated options to low budget researchers.

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