Mapping for Microscopes: Automatic Processing of Apatite Images

Apatite to Zircon, Inc. Computer Science, 2014-15

Liaison(s): Ray Donelick P15, Ravi Kumar ’14
Advisor(s): Zachary Dodds
Students(s): Kaya Woodall (PM), Justin Jones, Kathleen Schaefer, Richard J.T. Booth

Apatite to Zircon is a geology company that specializes in sediment analysis for determining a region’s geological history. A majority of the geologists’ time is spent at the microscope, manually searching for crystals to be analyzed. To increase the flexibility of this process, we implemented a fully-automated system that captures in-focus images across an entire slide, which we then provide in a seamless, high-definition viewing environment. In addition, we also generate locations of suggested crystals of interest.