The NIH research community has a wide range of image processing needs for which individual purchase of equipment and development of software are neither cost nor time effective. Despite these constraints, their research may still benefit from image processing. CSL is attempting to fill this gap by offering access to high quality image acquisition hardware and software, and offering meaningful support in applying these image processing tools. To ensure proper results, the problems of quantization levels, resolution, spectral filtering and the complexities of software must be understood, and correct technological solution applied. After examining various imaging hardware and systems, CSL assembled a high- resolution, wide dynamic range CCD camera system from the best available components. The system also includes a light box, Macintosh IIfx computer, wavelength selective filters and density step tablets. The camera is a Photometrics CCD with a thermoelectrically cooled Kodak CCD image sensor. The camera can form images with a maximum 1320 x 1035 spatial resolution and a pixel resolution of 12 bits. Software includes the NIH IMAGE program, IPLAB, and Digital Image Processing Station. The entire system is now accessible to the NIH scientific community in the DCRT Scientific Computing Resource Center users area. Image processing support has been extended to include an NIH training seminar and a technical supplement document for the public domain NIH IMAGE program. The seminar and manual are intended for those interested in the source code and macro developer feature of the IMAGE program. The technical supplement, now distributed with the IMAGE Pascal source code, describes how images can be accessed and modified. It also includes information about how textual information relating to user-defined processing can be saved.
