Glencoe Software and ZEISS Partner to Build Open Source File Reader for Whole Slide Imaging
Interesting press release from Glencoe Software and ZEISS this morning. ZEISS is commissioning Glencoe to do custom work that is being made available to the whole community for free. An interesting approach to the whole question of open data and standardization.
Seattle, August 30, 2016 – Glencoe Software, the world-leading supplier of image data management solutions for the academic, biotech, pharma and publication industries, is delighted to announce a new partnership with the Carl Zeiss Microscopy GmbH, Jena, Germany. Glencoe Software and ZEISS will collaborate to extend the open source Bio-Formats® image file conversion library to support whole slide images compressed with the JPEG XR compression scheme, like those recorded by the ZEISS Axio Scan.Z1 virtual slide scanner.
ZEISS Axio Scan.Z1 (www.zeiss.com/axioscan) is a fast and reliable whole slide scanner for brightfield and fluorescence samples that is used to record virtual slides of tissue sections in leading research and clinical pathology labs around the world. The collaboration will add support for files compressed with JPEG XR to Bio-Formats, the image file translation library built and released by Glencoe Software and the Open Microscopy Environment (OME). Bio-Formats® is used by thousands of scientists and clinicians worldwide to access their image data for processing and analysis. The software developed in the collaboration will be included in the open source distribution of Bio-Formats®, so that the worldwide Bio-Formats® user community, including researchers, pathologists and imaging specialists worldwide can use the output of this collaboration.
In announcing the agreement, Dr. Thorsten Heupel, the responsible Product Manager for Digital Pathology at ZEISS, said: “Axio Scan.Z1 is now used by hundreds of customers, and many of them are working with open-source software using Bio-Formats®. We are pleased to have this fruitful cooperation to realize JPEG XR compression as an asset for our users and the whole community. ZEISS Axio Scan.Z1 generates whole slide images fast and in perfect quality. With multi-modal imaging and a dynamic range of up to 16bit, an effective compression supporting these features is key and will now be implemented, thanks to Glencoe Software adding the support for JPEG XR to Bio-Formats®.”
Dr. Jason Swedlow, Founder and President of Glencoe Software, Inc., said, “I am delighted to announce this collaboration with ZEISS to add support for JPEG XR compression to Bio-Formats®. We are particularly excited that the software we build in this collaboration will be available for anyone to download and use. This is a great example of how industrial partners can work together and build important capabilities that benefit the global scientific and pathology imaging communities. The work we do together will benefit users of ZEISS Axio Scan.Z1 and indeed anyone who uses JPEG XR compression in their image data.”
About Glencoe Software
At Glencoe Software, we are committed to the delivery of innovative, scalable, easy-to-use scientific image data management solutions for our clients. We make the viewing, sharing, analysis, management & integration of large sets of images and metadata easy and accessible to everyone in your team or organization with our OMERO Plus, Bio-Formats® and PathViewer® software products and services. Glencoe Software is the exclusive commercial partner of the Open Microscopy Environment, or OME. For more information, visit www.glencoesoftware.com.
About ZEISS
ZEISS is an internationally leading technology enterprise operating in the optics and optoelectronics industries. The ZEISS Group develops and distributes semiconductor manufacturing equipment, measuring technology, microscopes, medical technology, eyeglass lenses, camera and cine lenses, binoculars and planetarium technology. With its solutions, the company constantly advances the world of optics and helps shape technological progress. ZEISS is divided up into the four segments Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology, Research & Quality Technology, Medical Technology, and Vision Care/Consumer Optics. ZEISS is represented in over 40 countries and operates more than 30 production sites, over 50 sales and service locations and about 25 research and development facilities.
In fiscal year 2014/15 the company generated revenue approximating €4.5 billion with around 25,000 employees. Founded in 1846 in Jena, the company is headquartered in Oberkochen, Germany. Carl Zeiss AG is the strategic management holding company that manages the ZEISS Group. The company is wholly owned by the Carl Zeiss Stiftung (Carl Zeiss Foundation).
Further information at www.zeiss.com
Microscopy:
The Microscopy business group is the world’s only one-stop manufacturer of light, X-ray and electron microscope systems. The portfolio compromises solutions and services for the life sciences and materials research as well as for industry, education and clinical practice. The business group is headquartered in Jena. Additional production and development sites are located in Oberkochen, Göttingen and Munich, as well as in Cambridge in the UK, and in Peabody, MA and Pleasanton, CA in the USA. The business group is allocated to the Research & Quality Technology segment. Around 5,900 employees work for the segment, generating revenue totaling €1.356 billion in fiscal year 2014/15.
Source: Glencoe Software
