Scientists at the University of Cambridge have recently created vLUME – "a point-cloud based 3D-SMLM data visualization tool able to render all pointillism-based multidimensional datasets". For decades, the analysis of cellular biology has been conducted through microscopes, which provide a limited and 2-dimensional viewpoint of cells. A 3-Dimensional perspective of cells allows scientists to see internal relations between points in a cell and inner texture and form. vLUME allows scientists to use a virtual reality setting to see sets of cells and cells' insides.
vLUME allows scientists to have an efficient analysis of cellular biology. The exploration of a cell through virtual reality is essential for visual representations of cells in the form of high-quality photos and videos. The 2-dimensional perspective in a microscope allows you to see the "length" and "width" of cellular structures. With vLUME, scientists can see the height and internal makeup of parts in a cell relative to each other. This is essential to diagnosing internal issues in cells such as failure or Endocytosis – the process of a virus infecting a cell. vLUME allows outputs to be in simple formats, so instead of seeing processed data by an AI, you would see real images, videos, or interactive environments as a part of a cell.
vLUME is the most efficient training mechanism for machine learning in biology. Through "checking" the processed data, which was run by Artificial Intelligence, vLUME allows scientists to mechanize their AI to be as accurate as possible. The more uses vLUME imaging processing has, the more accurate it becomes. The research at the University of Cambridge predicts that in a few years, vLUME should run visual representations independent of checking or human assistance.
The 3-dimensional perspective allows vLUME to analyze and divide large data sets into smaller visual representations. For example, one microtube can be extracted from a cell with a web of microtubes, essentially letting scientists diagnose and treat parts of a cell. vLUME is the future for microbiology in its ability to divide and diagnose parts of a cell.
vLUME is a significant technological breakthrough in Virtual Reality and will be the future of microbiology and cellular analysis allowing scientists to treat cells.
Authored by Krish Kapoor
References: Alexander Spark, Alexandre Kitching, Daniel Esteban-Ferrer, Anoushka Handa, Alexander R. Carr, Lisa-Maria Needham, Aleks Ponjavic, Ana Mafalda Santos, James Mccoll, Christophe Leterrier, Simon J. Davis, Ricardo Henriques & Steven F. Lee. vLUME: 3D virtual reality for single-molecule localization microscopy. Nature Methods, 2020 DOI: 10.1038/s41592-020-0962-1