Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Experiment Videos

High-throughput film-densitometry: an efficient approach to generate large data sets.

Dieter Typke1, Robert A Nordmeyer, Arthur Jones

  • 1Life Sciences Division, Donner Laboratory, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.

Journal of Structural Biology
|January 5, 2005
PubMed
Summary

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Telomere-Associated Proliferative Capacity in Expandable Porcine Hepatocyte-like Progenitor Cells.

Biology·2026
Same author

Laser phase plate improves structure determination of small proteins by cryo-EM.

Science (New York, N.Y.)·2026
Same author

Recent neurodevelopmental outcomes of extremely and very preterm infants: A multicenter retrospective cohort study.

Early human development·2026
Same author

Feasibility of NIV-NAVA as a primary respiratory support and its clinical impacts in a targeted group of preterm infants: protocol for a prospective observational study.

BMJ open·2026
Same author

G2-to-G0 cell cycle exit underlies sensitivity to ATR inhibition via the p53-p21-RB1 axis.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2026
Same author

Base-Catalyzed One-Pot Synthesis of Indolizine-1-carboxylates Tethered to 2-Aroyl Benzofurans and Benzothiophenes.

The Journal of organic chemistry·2026

A new robotic system automates electron micrograph digitization, processing over 300 images daily. This cost-effective solution offers a fast alternative to CCD cameras for electron microscopy image acquisition.

Area of Science:

  • Electron Microscopy
  • Image Processing
  • Robotics

Background:

  • Digitizing electron micrographs from photographic film is time-consuming and tedious.
  • High-end scientific microdensitometers offer superior modulation transfer function (MTF) but are expensive.
  • Commercial densitometers have limitations in MTF but possess excellent signal-to-noise ratios (S/N).

Purpose of the Study:

  • To develop an automated system for digitizing electron micrographs.
  • To evaluate the feasibility of using a commercial film densitometer for high-throughput image acquisition.
  • To provide a cost-effective alternative to CCD cameras in electron microscopy.

Main Methods:

  • A robotic film-handling machine was developed.
  • The robot was integrated with a commercially available film densitometer.

Related Experiment Videos

  • The system was used to digitize standard electron microscope films.

    • Main Results:

    • The automated system can digitize over 300 electron micrographs per day.
    • Image quality, despite lower MTF, was significantly improved through signal-to-noise ratio restoration.
    • The commercial densitometer can digitize large areas of film (up to 10,000 x 13,680 pixels).

    Conclusions:

    • Robotic film handling eliminates delays and tedium in electron micrograph digitization.
    • Automated digitization using a commercial densitometer is a fast and inexpensive method for acquiring large image datasets.
    • This approach provides a viable alternative to high-end CCD cameras for electron microscopy image data acquisition.