An open-source software package for on-the-fly deskewing and live viewing of volumetric lightsheet microscopy data

Abstract: Oblique plane microscopy, OPM, is a form of lightsheet microscopy that permits volumetric imaging of biological samples at high temporal and spatial resolution. However, the imaging geometry of OPM, and related variants of light sheet microscopy, distorts the coordinate frame of the presented image sections with respect to real space coordinate frame in which the sample is moved to navigate to regions of interest. This makes live viewing and practical operation of such microscopes difficult. We present an open-source software package that utilises GPU acceleration and multiprocessing to transform the display of OPM imaging data in real time to produce live views that mimic that produced by standard widefield microscopes. Image stacks can be acquired, processed and plotted at rates of several Hz, making live operation of OPMs, and similar microscopes, more user friendly and intuitive.