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Advanced Digital Imaging Research (ADIR) is a research and development organisation specialising in digital imaging software and algorithm development. Located in the Houston, Texas area, ADIR conducts digital imaging research and development projects sponsored by the National Institutes of Health, NASA, and corporate clients. ADIR is a subsidiary of International Remote Imaging Systems, Inc. (IRIS), a publicly held supplier of in vitro diagnostic instruments based in Chatsworth, California. New technology developed under ADIR’s projects is made available to IRIS and other client companies for commercialisation.

Headed up by its President, Dr. Kenneth Castleman, ADIR tackles assignments that range from automated cancer cell image analysis to 3-D panoramic imaging. It is critical for Castleman and his team of researchers to have a flexible and comprehensive tool to develop fast and accurate image processing algorithms. To do this effectively and efficiently, ADIR uses Mathcad. Dr. Castleman, author of two textbooks on digital image processing, has been using Mathcad as a development tool for almost fifteen years.

During any given project, ADIR investigators work with images from medical, industrial or forensic research. They use Mathcad to test and implement various techniques to define and document algorithms and to solve equation sets, leveraging the patented whiteboard style and 3-D graphical interface to manipulate data plots and drill down into complex mathematical data. Once the algorithms are finalised, ADIR is able to move directly into Mathcad’s built-in word processing tool to create polished documents detailing the research results for its clients. Castleman is also able to paste Mathcad regions, such as graphs, into Word or HTML documents or make GIF or JPEG images out of them for use in publications.

“Our work ranges from complex medical imaging research to large-scale mapping and diagrams, and we need a tool that is able to handle anything we investigate,” said Castleman. “With Mathcad, we are able to manipulate and analyse our data quickly while at the same time documenting our work, for sharing and publication. We also use it for pilot studies conducted in support of research grant applications. It is an end-to-end tool for research and development.”

Mathcad helps ADIR streamline their algorithm development process. ADIR uses Mathcad as the core testing and reporting tool due to its flexibility in working with other image processing software such as LView Pro and WiT, as well as their own proprietary software. Leveraging Mathcad’s ability to read and write images, Castleman can seamlessly pass work between programs. Mathcad simplifies the work involved in creating and testing various solutions to determine the best ways to approach an algorithm design task. For example, ADIR uses Mathcad to measure various aspects of cells captured in a microscopic image to determine if they are cancerous. Mathcad is also able to display and manipulate 3-dimensional images and statistical data to guide the algorithm design process.

Castleman has also leveraged Mathcad’s functionality to assist in his work with the FBI, where he belongs to a group that develops guidelines for forensic image processing, and he has worked on several cases involving photographic evidence. Throughout his career, Castleman has worked on image analysis cases involving UFOs, bank robberies, the JFK assassination, and the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster. As one of the developers of digital image processing for NASA, he was inducted in the United Space Technology Hall of Fame in 1994.

Mathcad is able to assist ADIR in all its various specialties, which include digital image processing, quantitative image analysis, pattern recognition, digital image coding and compression, automated microscopy, forensic image processing and two-dimensional wavelet transforms. Extending across various disciplines and incorporating comprehensive features, Mathcad serves as a primary solution for the ADIR engineers.

Mathcad 11 is supplied and supported in the UK, Ireland, Denmark and Norway by Adept Scientific plc, Amor Way, Letchworth, Herts. SG6 1ZA; telephone (01462) 480055, fax (01462) 480213, email mathcad@adeptscience.co.uk; or see Adept’s World Wide Web site http://www.adeptscience.co.uk/. Adept Scientific is one of the world’s leading suppliers of software and hardware products for research, scientific, engineering and technical applications on desktop computers.

With offices in the UK, USA, Germany and throughout the Nordic region, Adept Scientific is one of the world’s leading suppliers of software and hardware products for research, scientific, engineering and technical applications on desktop computers.