Neurolucida Previous Versions

Features Introduced in Version 9.0

  • New tools to trace, classify and analyze dendritic spines
  • New morphometric analyses for neuronal analysis
  • Improved editing features for easier tree repair

AUTOMATIC CONTOURING

  • Let the software automatically trace anatomical regions and section boundaries from images, image stacks, virtual slides, and even off the live camera feed
  • If you need to move the stage, the software does it automatically and continues tracing beyond the feld-of-view

AUTOMATIC OBJECT DETECTION

  • Let the software find cells, synapses, grains, or similar types of objects that interest you in your images
  • Mark and count the objects or have Neurolucida automatically trace around the outside of an object

MULTIPLE USER SETUP

  • Create configurations for different users and groups in your lab, or organize by experiment type
  • Use one login with all users, or give each user a private login with their own customized settings
  • Switch between multiple hardware setups with separate settings

IMAGE HANDLING

  • Work with high-bit depth, n-channel (up to 16 bits per channel) images via a flexible and intuitive user interface
  • Acquire up to six independent channels of high-bit depth data per image from any of our cameras
  • Work with the latest image file formats from the major confocal microscope manufacturers
  • Load, view, and analyze multiple image stacks at once
  • Enhanced ability to work with 3D virtual slide stacks include saving portions of these large montage images (and stacks) to separate files
  • New image display control mechanism provides precise histogram adjustments for enhanced visualization
  • Preserve original acquired image data after modifications including acquisition adjustments post-acquisition

IMPROVED 3D VISUALIZATION

  • A fully revamped 3D visualization window makes it easier to view, manipulate, and understand image stacks and tracings
  • View cut planes in the X, Y, and Z axis from any angle
  • Manipulate the transparency to get the look you want from your combined image and tracing data
  • New automatic rotation tool that lets you adjust the angle of rotation and the speed

64-BIT / WINDOWS 7 COMPATIBLE

  • Load and work with extremely large images and image stacks with 64-bit support
  • Take advantage of the performance and reliability of Microsoft Windows 7
  • New monochrome and color cameras for 64-bit Vista and 64-bit Windows 7

JPEG 2000 IMAGE FILE SUPPORT

  • Dramatically reduce disk space usage for all your image data
  • Image stacks that were 100 MB stored in a traditional TIFF file shrink to about 5 MB
  • Lossless compression to reconstruct the original image data from a compressed file
  • Ultra fast loading and viewing of image stacks
  • Create large virtual slices that exceed the computer’s physical memory and store these files using manageable file sizes

HARDWARE SUPPORT

  • Swap multiple cameras on the fly with an improved camera interface
  • Support for Zeiss® AxioCam®, QImaging®, and Baumer® cameras with hot switch ability
  • Comprehensive integration with the Zeiss ApoTome® structured illumination device
  • Support for the Qioptic Optigrid® structured illumination device

SIMPLIFIED MENUS AND HOT KEYS

  • Streamlined workflows with more intuitive menus and dialogs
  • New navigation keys help you maneuver around with less effort

SERIAL SECTIONS

  • Combine files together into a complete data file with fewer steps and a more intuitive interface
  • Now use the Serial Section Manager to define many sections in one step—and view multiple and flanking sections

ADDITIONAL FEATURES

  • Adjust the transparency of the tracing to see the underlying image while tracing
  • Drag and drop your images, image stacks, and data files for easier loading and display
  • Support for Aperio® and Hamamatsu® Nanozoomer® virtual slide files
  • Enhanced Help integration

AutoNeuron – Features Introduced in Version 4

INTERACTIVE MODE

  • New Workflow
  • Interactive tracing: Dynamic point-to-end-point display of the proposed tracing path while moving the mouse
  • Easily specify intermediate tracing points. Adding a new branch is as simple as a single click

REGIONS OF INTEREST

  • Identify one or more regions of interest to include or exclude, creating an automatic neuron tracing zone

EDITING TOOLS

  • Improved editing tools, including quick splice and quick-detach tools for correcting tracing errors

SEED PLACEMENT

  • Use distinct colors to differentiate between automatically- and manually-placed seeds automatic tracing

BLENDED CHANNELS

  • Create combined reconstructions of multiple neurons in separate color channels




Features Introduced in Version 8.0

  • View and Analyze Multi-Gigabyte Images. With Microsoft Vista® 64-bit and Vista 32-bit, load and work with larger images, image stacks, and virtual slides
  • Export Neuron Reconstruction Analyses Results into Microsoft Excel®. Results are properly formatted and can be exported from Excel into other programs and documents

MOBILE LICENSING

  • Quickly move your license key between multiple workstations within the lab or work from a remote location

FASTER AND SMOOTHER SOLID MODELING MODULE

  • Image stacks can be dynamically rotated and viewed in real-time using GPU (graphics processing unit) rendering
  • Contour Skin Surface loads faster and now supports multiple contours on any serial section
  • Added a surface smoothness setting for trees and contours
  • Export to solid model graphics to Wavefront .OBJ files
  • Improved transparency mapping and contour quality

INTELLIGENT MACRO VIEW

  • Macro View made smarter – Adjusts window size to contain only visible tracing objects — hidden and out-of-section objects are disregarded
  • Intuitive zooming —left-click and drag a box to zoom in; right-click to zoom out

CAMERA INTEGRATION

  • Link a filter device to a camera, automatically change the filter from color to monochrome, and back again
  • Switch between color and monochrome modes with a single mouse click

MORE POWERFUL DEVICE COMMAND SEQUENCES

  • View the most recently run device command sequence
  • The device state field now displays the device’s current state
  • List the device command sequences in the order you choose

IMPROVED MULTICHANNEL FEATURES

  • Open and close a shutter right from the toolbar
  • Save and select camera presets based on your current lens and last run commands
  • New option to acquire multi-channel image stacks one stack at a time

SUPORT FOR NEW HARDWARE DEVICES INCLUDING:

  • Optronics Microcast® HD 1080p High Definition Video camera
  • Spectral Applied Research Procyon Laser Merge Module for laser illumination
  • Leica DM(I), Nikon 90i and Nikon 80i automated microscope stands
  • Cooke Sensicam QE and EM and Cooke PCO cameras

ADDITIONAL IMPROVEMENTS

  • Marker toolbar names automatically match the markers loaded from your data file
  • Support for Improvision files
  • Improved Orthoview Window
  • New Diagnostic Window added to assist in support troubleshooting
  • Flipping objects and sections only affects the X and Y coordinates; Z coordinates do not change
  • Paste selected objects as floating objects, making final placement easier
  • Change a contour into a cell body and a cell body into a contour
  • Associate objectives and lenses with the Zeiss AxioImager and AxioObserver-when the objective changes, so does the lens
  • Improved scale bars
  • New and improved online help

AutoNeuron – Features Introduced in Version 3

  • Improve multiple soma detection and contouring in 3D
  • Advanced settings for branch connections and tracing guidance
  • Automatic projection
  • Select from multiple channels
  • Adjustable gap width for connecting nearby branches
  • Improved Workflow interface




Features Introduced in Version 7.5

  • Virtual Slice access – Perform morphological analyses and trace directly from virtual slides from across the internet. This is ideal for remote research collaboration.
  • AutoNeuron Module – Improved interactive tracing, better multi-soma detection, advanced user control and improved user interface.
  • Solid Modeling Module – Now runs directly inside Neurolucida for 3D visualization of reconstruction data. Also overlay 3D image data for simultaneous viewing of the image and reconstruction data in 3D.
  • Export reconstruction data as XML files.
  • Display tracing thickness using multiple rendering options.
  • Video Blending Mode – A better, smoother blend between acquired images and video feed – with transparency overlay. Remote users see your live video feed using programs like PC Anywhere and Live Remote Assistance.
  • Multiple User Settings allows separate parameter settings for different users.
  • Orthogonal View Display and Image Organizer Display improved.
  • New camera hardware support for MBF CX9000, Cooke Sensicam QE and EM, Cooke pco.
  • Microscope integration support for Nikon 90i and Nikon 80i (with optional hardware).
  • Numerous improvements to the user interface throughout the software.



Features Introduced in Version 7.0

  • Select inputs for defining the stack, also optional acquire from the bottom up.
  • Image stacks can be saved as a series of single image files.
  • Image stacks of true-color images can now be saved as 3 grayscale image stacks where each stack contains one of the three color components (red, green or blue) of the original image stack.
  • Top of the stack can be set to the current Z coordinate while maintaining the ability of the stage to be moved without resetting the Z of the top of the image stack.
  • Focus on the first site of a virtual slice during acquisition.
  • A virtual slice acquire may use black to fill in the non acquired background.
  • Improved background correction, using division instead of subtraction for better results.
  • Display time remaining for stack acquisition and virtual slide acquisition.
  • Digital video controls for image acquisition (gain and exposure).
  • Live histogram and clip detect (to show saturated regions of the live video) features aid image acquisition.
  • Enhanced integration with the Hamamatsu cameras.
  • Multi-channel acquires are easier to do with “remember video settings” button.
  • Multi-channel acquire capability was added for acquiring single images, image stacks, SRS Image (Stack) Series and Virtual Slice.
  • FluoView integration enhanced.
  • Automatically save images when they are acquired. User sets the path and base name of the automatically saved files.
  • Orthogonal view now has a tool bar for easier navigation.
  • Tool bar icons are now larger and easier to see.
  • Depth Filter can be visible at all times, without requiring Orthogonal View.
  • Place a marker at the centroid of selected contour with the CTRL+M hot key. This function averages the x, y, and z measurements for a contour in order to figure out where to put the marker.
  • Keyboard nudge for grid tuning.
  • Use the arrow keys to align the tracing.
  • Save an empty tracing file with an image attached.
  • Control automatic lens turrets within Neurolucida to select a lens.
  • Putative Synapse defined marker to identify locations where axons and dendrites merge to within a user-specified distance of each other.
  • Camera and stage alignment online tutorials.
  • Copy protection updated for more security, fewer problems.

Please contact MBF Bioscience at 802-288-9290 or email us to upgrade to the latest version of Neurolucida.