Image analysis and quantitative computing have become powerful tools in multiple biomedical applications, ranging from clinical cases to molecular/cellular experiments. What happens at the micro-scale has proven to be critical and the origin of the emerging macroscopic behavior of tissues and organs. In fact, the underlying mechanisms involved in single and collective cell migration, organization, tissue formation and regeneration among others, are currently spearheading research topics worldwide. Multidisciplinary frameworks combining computer simulations and experiments have been widely proposed to overcome the intrinsic difficulties associated to realistic environments in 3D. The success of these approaches relies on result validation, i.e. quantitative comparison: computational vs. experimental, which therefore requires as accurate measurements as possible.
Nowadays, thousands of laboratories deal with the problem of proper image analysis, which can be really challenging specially when working on 3D in-vitro experiments. This kind of research involves training or hiring an image-analysis specialist, with the subsequent economical and time costs. Although there exist a wide variety of alternatives, the use of third party software is often expensive and non-straightforward, meaning that its functionality may be limited and not exactly oriented to your necessities. In fact, most of the available software only deals with the image processing, but not with the succeeding quantification of the data. For this reason, we have developed our own specific code of image processing and post-analysis, and we offer the user not the software itself, but an analysis service called IMAGO. This service is powered through an online platform that provides a private zone for the users, allowing them uploading and storing experimental images and requesting different types of analysis. As of today, we are offering: 2D cell migration, 3D gel reconstruction, Histology, Nuclei Morphology and Traction Force Microscopy analysis (TFM). Once the user selects the type of analysis, we process the input images and quantify the corresponding parameters, afterwards uploading a report to the platform so that the user can check and store the results.
Offering these complete processing to the research community as a commercial online service, IMAGO will be of great interest for many laboratories that need to perform complex analyses and do not have the time, the experience or the resources to use other available tools. Furthermore, we offer specialized quantitative analyses on-request, meaning that apart from the catalog of pre-built types, the client is able to ask for specific analyses that will be, after a feasibility study, expressly developed and added to the catalog of services. In this way, our services directory will grow periodically and will be up to date with leading research analysis.
