DIVA, an innovative "tailored" software platform for complex image analysis using virtual reality

Based on an original idea by Mohamed El Beheiry, developed with Sébastien Doutreligne, the Decision and Bayesian Computation five-year group, directed by Jean-Baptiste Masson, in cooperation with the Light-Based Observation and Control of Cellular Organization laboratory, directed by Maxime Dahan at the Institut Curie, has developed a new software platform named DIVA (Data Integration and Visualization in Augmented and Virtual Environments).

Created under the partnership with PSL Research University, DIVA uses virtual reality techniques for visualization and processing medical and biological images (optical or electron microscopy data). The tool creates an environment where users can interact with their own data by virtually placing themselves alongside those data. DIVA is highly interactive: it serves both as an exploratory platform that can be used to view real 3D and make visualization adjustments to observe images in detail, e.g. for the purposes of making a precise diagnosis; and also as a processing platform for extracting information in various formats. This powerful tool is compatible with all images, whether from an MRI, scanner or confocal microscope.

DIVA, available for use by scientists at the Institut Pasteur, is one of the first software tools to demonstrate the combined effect of user–data interaction, immersive visualization and data processing in virtual environments, with the aim of improving our understanding of biological and medical images. It has already given rise to collaboration with several units on campus for visualizing complex microscopy images, recalibrating large 3D volumes and reconstructing neural trees from raw images.

If you are interested in using this platform to "immerse" yourself in your research topics or would simply like to find out more about this technology, which may soon be extended to incorporate the use of videos to include a dynamic dimension (cell movement, migration, etc.), please contact Mohamed El Beheiry, mohamed.el-beheiry@pasteur.fr/mohamed.el-beheiry@curie.fr, to explore possibilities for collaboration!

The software will soon be freely available to the entire campus within the Image Analysis Hub directed by Jean-Yves Tinevez.

The DIVA project has received funding from several sources, including PasteurInnov, Curie Innov and PSL.