title: Localizer: fast, accurate, open-source, and modular software package for superresolution microscopy.
abstract: We present Localizer, a freely available and open source software package that implements the computational data processing inherent to several types of superresolution fluorescence imaging, such as localization (PALM/STORM/GSDIM) and fluctuation imaging (SOFI/pcSOFI). Localizer delivers high accuracy and performance and comes with a fully featured and easy-to-use graphical user interface but is also designed to be integrated in higher-level analysis environments. Due to its modular design, Localizer can be readily extended with new algorithms as they become available, while maintaining the same interface and performance. We provide front-ends for running Localizer from Igor Pro, Matlab, or as a stand-alone program. We show that Localizer performs favorably when compared with two existing superresolution packages, and to our knowledge is the only freely available implementation of SOFI/pcSOFI microscopy. By dramatically improving the analysis performance and ensuring the easy addition of current and future enhancements, Localizer strongly improves the usability of superresolution imaging in a variety of biomedical studies.
authors.affiliation: The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Department of Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences, 725 N. Wolfe Street, Baltimore, Mayland 21205, USA. peter.dedecker@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Dedecker
authors.forename: Sam
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Duwé
authors.forename: Robert K
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Neely
authors.forename: Jin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D007089:Image Enhancement / Q000379:methods*; D007090:Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence / Q000379:methods*; D011381:Programming Languages; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012984:Software; D012986:Software Validation