Measurement Dialogs

ImageWarp features a number of functions for interactive measurements on images. These functions utilize measurement dialogs with which you can specify options and parameters for a selected measurement type and perform measurements. A typical example of a measurement dialog is the Contour Measurements dialog accessible through the Measure menu. Measurement dialogs inherit most of their behavior from the Interactive dialogs, but they do not create an Output image. The results of a measurement commands are not images, but numbers representing the parameters of objects measured on images. These results are outputted to the Measurement tables integrated into the dialogs.

The measurement process consists in defining features of interests by interactively tracing or selecting them in the Input image frame. Depending on the type of measurement you might need to draw freehand lines along the objects' contours, indicate one or more points of interests or simply click the objects to be measured. When you finish the definition of a feature, it will be measured and the correspondent row of data added to the Measurement table. As you define more features, the table will be updated with new rows of data. If you click a row in the table, the corresponding feature in the image will blink. Most of the measurement dialogs allow you to move the already defined features feature by holding the SHIFT key, pressing the left mouse button and moving a selected feature to the new location. You can work with several images during one measurement session by changing the frame number in the Input field.

The following options can be found in all the Measurement dialogs:

Input

Displays the number of the image frame for which the measurements are taken. If you want to perform measurements of another image, type or select the corresponding value. You can perform measurements on different images switching between them, while ImageWarp will continually add the results to the Measurement table.

Open data

Lets you open a data file with the results saved during the previous sessions of measurements. When you click this button, the Open dialog box will appear allowing you to select a data file from the list of files and folders. If a data file contains measurement parameters compatible with the parameters available for the current type of measurements, the saved results will be loaded into the beginning of the Measurement table, and parameters stored in the data file will be added to the set of the parameters being measured. Note that the results loaded from a data file will appear gray, indicating that they do not relate to any feature currently highlighted in the input image.

Class

Allows you to select the class for the features being measured. A class is a numerical identifier that you assign to the features having similar properties. If you select a new class and continue performing measurements, the new features will be highlighted in a different color corresponding to the related index in the multiphase palette.

Parameters

Lets you select parameters for measurements. When you click this button, the Parameters dialog box will appear with the list of available parameters. To select a parameter for measurements, click the corresponding check box. If you click a selected parameter, it will be deselected. To deselect all parameters, click Clear. As you step through the list of parameters by using the mouse or arrow keys, a brief textual and graphic description of each parameter will appear in the pane on the right.

Measurement table

Displays measurement results. The topmost row of the table lists the currently selected parameters. If spatial or intensity calibration has been applied to the current image, the corresponding units will be displayed next to the parameters' names. The first column of the table displays the ordinal number of a feature, while the second column shows the class ID. As you define a new feature in the input image, this feature will be measured, and the results will be added to the table. If you click a row in the table, the corresponding feature in the image will blink. Note that if you use the Open Data option to load stored results from a data file, they will appear gray, and they will not relate to any feature in the image.

Delete row

Click this button to delete the currently selected row from the Measurement table. When you delete a row of data from the table, the corresponding contour will be erased from the input image.

Clear all

Click this button to clear the entire Measurement table and initialize the count of features. This command does not affect the data loaded from a data file and displayed in gray color.

Export to Excel

Click this button to transfer data to Microsoft Excel for further analysis. If the Excel application is not open, ImageWarp will attempt to start it automatically before transferring data. If you receive an error message, make sure Microsoft Excel is installed in the system and you have enough memory to run both Excel and ImageWarp.

Save data

Click this button to save the measurement results into an ImageWarp data file. When you click this button, the Open dialog box will appear allowing you to enter a file name or select a data file from the list of files and folders. If you select a file in the list, its name will appear in the File Name box, and ImageWarp will ask if you want to replace this file with the one you would like to save. Note that data file stores the parameters' names along with the results. This allows you to resume performing measurements by simply opening the data file which you previously saved. You can also open a data file for further analysis by choosing Open Data on the File menu.

Close

Closes the dialog box. If you have not saved the session results to a data file, ImageWarp will offer you to do it.

Note – ImageWarp maintains backup logs during all interactive measurements. This ensures that data will not be lost due to a sudden hardware or software failure. If the system fails or application stops responding, restart ImageWarp and choose the measurement command that was interrupted. All results from the last session will be restored and loaded into the measurement table.