A user-friendly tool to convert photon counting data to the open-source Photon-HDF5 file format

Area of Science:

• Biophysics
• Microscopy Data Management

Background:

• Photon-HDF5 is an open format for photon-counting data from single-molecule microscopy, promoting data exchange and reproducibility.
• Existing conversion tools like phconvert require programming expertise, limiting accessibility for many researchers.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a user-friendly graphical user interface (GUI) for converting proprietary microscopy data formats to Photon-HDF5.
• To lower the barrier to entry for utilizing the Photon-HDF5 format and its benefits.

Main Methods:

• The GUI leverages the existing phconvert Python library for data format conversion.
• It provides a no-code solution for converting proprietary files to Photon-HDF5.
• Includes functionality for associating metadata and batch processing of entire directories.

Main Results:

• Successfully created a GUI that simplifies the conversion of microscopy data to Photon-HDF5.
• The tool enables users without coding or YAML proficiency to convert their data.
• Features include batch conversion and error handling for failed conversions.

Conclusions:

• The developed GUI significantly enhances the accessibility of the Photon-HDF5 format for single-molecule microscopy data analysis.
• This promotes wider adoption of open data formats, improving reproducibility and data sharing in the scientific community.