Python-Microscope - a new open-source Python library for the control of microscopes

Journal article

Custom-built microscopes often require control of multiple hardware devices and precise hardware coordination. It is also desirable to have a solution that is scalable to complex systems and that is translatable between components from different manufacturers. Here we report Python-Microscope, a free and open-source Python library for high-performance control of arbitrarily complex and scalable custom microscope systems. Python-Microscope offers simple to use Python-based tools, abstracting differences between physical devices by providing a defined interface for different device types. Concrete implementations are provided for a range of specific hardware, and a framework exists for further expansion. Python-Microscope supports the distribution of devices over multiple computers while maintaining synchronisation via highly precise hardware triggers. We discuss the architectural features of Python-Microscope that overcome the performance problems often raised against Python and demonstrate the different use cases that drove its design: integration with user-facing projects, namely the Microscope-Cockpit project; control of complex microscopes at high speed while using the Python programming language; and use as a microscope simulation tool for software development.

Authors: Susano Pinto, DM; Phillips, MA; Hall, N; Mateos-Langerak, J; Stoychev, D

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: Company of Biologists
• Journal: Journal of Cell Science More from this journal
• Volume: 134
• Issue: 19
• Article number: jcs258955
• Publication date: 2021-10-06
• Acceptance date: 2021-08-23
• DOI: 10.1242/jcs.258955
• EISSN: 1477-9137
• ISSN: 0021-9533
• Pmid: 34448002
• Language: English
• Keywords: computer simulation; FFR; gene library; software