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Image analysis software
This table listing image analysis software was copied from a Wikipedia article (now deleted). I removed from it: the columns about the type of license, open/closed source, OS, etc. More important, in my view, data was added. Based on the inspection of their sites, I tried to answer the following questions:
- What is the price? (In the absence of that information, I put "????".)
- Is there a free version available for download?
- Does the site provide examples of how the software has been used for image analysis?
- Does the site reveal the methods/algorithms behind the software?
The descriptions came either from the original list or from the sites.
Software
Product | Developer | Cost (USD) | Free trial | Examples presented | Methods disclosed | Description by the vendor | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Able Image Analyser | Mu Labs | 150 | No | 4 | No | can automatically detect objects in the image, count them and calculates their positions and sizes | See more |
analySIS, CELL | Olympus | ???? | No | No | N/A | microscopy imaging solutions globally | |
AxioVision | Carl Zeiss | ???? | Yes | No | No | carry out measurements and segmentation interactively or automatically | |
BioImage Suite | Yale University | Free | Yes | Many | Yes | graphical applications (GUI) and a set of command-line utilities | 3D |
CellProfiler | Broad Institute | Free (requires MATLAB) | Yes | Many | N/A | quantitatively measure phenotypes from thousands of images automatically | See more |
Clemex Vision PE | Clemex Technologies inc. | ???? | No | Many | No | an intuitive software program that empowers you to easily develop custom image analysis macros without writing a single line of code | |
Digimizer | MedCalc Software | 99 | Yes | 4 | No | image analysis software package that allows precise manual measurements as well as automatic object detection with measurements of object characteristics | See more |
eCognition | Definiens | ???? | No | Many | No | No. 1 Enterprise Image Intelligence® company | See more |
eCELLence | Glance Vision Tech. | ???? | No | 3 | No | Quantitative analysis for images from microscopy | |
Fiji | Max-Planck-Institute of Molecular Biology and Genetics | Free | Yes | Many | Yes | an image processing package based on ImageJ | |
GSA Image Analyser | GSA | 445 | Yes | No | No | a program for the scientific evaluation of 2D images (image analysis) | |
Image-Pro Plus | Media Cybernetics | ???? | No | Many | No | 2D and 3D image processing, enhancement, and analysis software with extensive measurement and customization features | |
ImageWarp | A&BSoft | ???? | Yes | No | No | graphic development environment, comprehensive image analysis toolset, and programming development techniques | |
IN Cell Investigator | GE Healthcare | ???? | No | No | No | interprets your data into enlightening results | |
JMicroVision | Nicolas Roduit | Free | Yes | Many | No | describe, measure, quantify and classify components of all kinds of images | |
NDEWIP | NASA Glenn Research Center | 299 | No | No | No | Nondestructive Evaluation, X-ray Computed Tomography, Ultrasonic, Microwave, Terahertz, Thermography, etc. | |
ImageJ | NIH | Free | Yes | Many | Yes | Java-based image processing program | See more |
PAX-it! | Midwest Information Systems | ???? | No | Many | No | image analysis features can be run from an easy-to-use wizard that steps you through the entire process of analyzing your images | |
Pixcavator | Intelligent Perception | 29/month | Yes | Many | Yes | Context independent image analysis: medical, scientific, industrial, microscopy, satellite etc. | Source code |
PlantVison | KnowledgeScape | ???? | No | No | Yes | Mineral Processing Feed Belt and Froth Flotation | |
ScanIP | Simpleware Ltd. | ???? | Yes | No | N/A | Biomechanics, Materials Research, Reverse Engineering, Nondestructive Evaluation, Soil Mechanics, Dental, Orthopaedics, Biomimicry, Paleontology, Forensics | |
TINA | TINA group | Free | Yes | Yes | No | a broad range of image visualisation, processing and segmentation tools | 3D |
Tria Image | Quarktet | 360 | No | No | N/A | Blind deconvolution | |
VIPS | VIPS authors | Free | Yes | Many | Yes | open source environment developed to accelerate the process of image analysis research: imaging, batch processing, high resolution, parallel processing, cultural heritage | |
VisionGauge | VISIONx, Inc. | ???? | No | No | No | let you capture, manipulate, analyze, store and output images and data | |
Volocity | Improvision | ???? | No | No | N/A | 3D-4D imaging software | |
WipFrag | WipWare | ???? | No | No | N/A | Mining, Agricultural, Forestry material analyzing technology |
A couple more...
Libraries
Product | Developer | Cost (USD) | Examples presented | Methods disclosed | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Olena | EPITA Research and Development Laboratory | Free | 3 | Yes | |
Mathematica | Wolfram Research | 2495 | Many | No | |
MATLAB Image Processing Toolbox | Mathworks | ???? | Many | No | See more |
SDC Morphology toolbox | SDC Information Systems | 699 | Many | Yes | |
OpenCV | OpenCV | Free | Many | Yes | |
Pixcavator DLL | Intelligent Perception | 700 | Many | Yes | For code see Pixcavator SDK |
SciPy | SciPy community | Free | ??? | ??? | |
libvips | VIPS authors | Free | Yes | Yes |
Conclusions
What is the price? In the absence of that information, I put "????" indicating that the price might be in the thousands.
Is there a free version available for download? Companies with "????" usually don’t have that.
Does the site provide examples of how the software has been used for image analysis? Very often, surprisingly little is provided.
Does the site reveal the methods/algorithms behind the software? Commercial vendors typically say nothing. I put "Yes" for all open source projects but the fact is the source code is all you get. The algorithms, the math behind them, accuracy and error issues, etc aren't discussed at all. Some claim fully automatic, "unsupervised" image analysis. That however does not mean that there are no parameters that may have to be altered. In case of Pixcavator these parameters are explicit, that's the main difference in my view.
Consider examples of image analysis that such software has to deal with.