Computer software projected images

This research was supported by the Intramural Research Program of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, NIH. The authors thank the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) for instrumentation funding, without which this and other projects could not have been accomplished and Dr. J Albert Schultz and Tom Egan (lonwerks, Inc.) for assistance with the ion mobility mass spectrometer and the imaging computer software. 

A "PC projection panel" and overhead projection of the spreadsheet greatly eases viewing of the computer video output. The PC projection panel provides an overhead projection of the computer screen so that all review team members can easily and simultaneous observe and comment on the recorded information as it is being recorded. The PC projection panel consist of a liquid crystal display (LCD) panel that duplicates data, text or graphics, generated from the computer screen. When placed on an overhead projector the LCD image is projected onto a projector screen or a wall. Personal computer screens are viewable by only two or three personnel at a time. A typical review involves at least 5 personnel, so the PC projection pad enables all participants to view the software worksheet as it is prepared (note a "reflective" type of overhead projector will not operate with the PC projection panel, direct illumination from below the panel is required). Further details of a typical PC projection panel are provided in Appendix F. 

The development of specialist software for the analysis of electron micrographs has equipped researchers with a variety of computational tools to analyse different types of sample. These methods are all based on the premise that a micrograph is a simple projection of the object and therefore have much in common. The main steps include (i) pre-processing of images, (ii) restoration of images, (iii) enhancement of images, (iv) determination of orientations and (v) reconstmction of the three-dimensional distribution of density. The result obtained must then be validated and interpreted. 

Figure 2 The Project MAC kludge display system (foreground). Note the crystal ball in front of the CRT used to interact with the software control program running on the host computer. A device for viewing images in stereo based on a half-silvered mirror can be seen mounted above the display. This unit could be pivoted down in front of the face of the CRT to view stereo images...

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