Real-Time 3D Materials Analysis During Electron Tomography using tomviz

Three-dimensional (3D) characterization across the nanoscale is now possible using scanning transmission electron microscopes. Unfortunately, tomographic reconstructions can take one to several days to complete depending upon the dataset size or algorithm(s) employed. Even worse, the reconstruction occurs offline, long after all the data has been collected, preventing immediate interpretation during an ongoing experiment.

Here we present interactive 3D visualization that seamlessly runs while experimental projections are collected in an electron microscope using the tomviz platform (www.tomviz.org). Tomviz presents 3D materials structure to scientists in real-time enabling high-throughput specimen interpretation with immediate tomogram visualization. During the experimental acquisition, tomviz monitors for new projections which are continuously appended into the reconstruction process. After a reconstruction updates, tomviz immediately renders the 3D volume. Tomograms are reconstructed in parallel with data acquisition and a high-quality 3D reconstruction is available before the experiment ends.

Tomviz offers unparalleled electron tomography throughput with real-time 3D analysis—it is an open-source repository that is available to all institutions for download at www.tomviz.org