VayTek's proprietary Single Image Haze Removal algorithm uses a point spread function to calculate and remove the out-of-focus haze from a single microscope image. This capability has several implications:

• Experimental protocols that have a time course too short to allow for multiple image acquisition at varying vertical depths, and consequently the use of more sophisticated haze removal algorithms, can be used with this technique. For example, single images from calcium ratio experiments can be cleaned up.
• The haze can be removed from thin specimens acquired at high magnification (e.g., DNA). Because some specimens are so thin, it can be difficult to capture multiple images at different depths for other algorithms.
• Archived images are usually single images. Researchers seldom save a stack of images from a specimen. The single image algorithm lets the researcher retrieve stored images and re-examine them.

The image in the upper left was archived and retrieved after two years. The image at the lower left was processed using the VayTek's proprietary Single Image Haze Removal algorithm.

The image shows a neuron growing on a substrate lithographed onto a glass slide. Identifying the location of the substrate was important, although it was not apparent using optical techniques. The Single Image Haze Removal algorithm clearly identifies the location of the photoresist used to create the grid.

For more information on haze removal software see MicroTome.