Turboscan / Turboscan Compiler
Overview
Stereo Investigator is combined with Objective Imaging technology (OASIS and Turboscan) to synchronize image acquisition with stage movement for scanning large brightfield images significantly faster.
What you need
- OASIS blue card for the stage controller
- License for Turboscan
- Camera with trigger cable
The Turboscan workspace
Although you are working in Stereo Investigator, you'll be using tools designed by Objective Imaging: 
- Map window (used to define and implement scanning).
- Select to define a rectangular region of interest (ROI).
- Drag the mouse to draw a rectangle.
- Select to define the scan pattern (grid) area to be used for the scan.
- Drag the mouse to draw the grid.
- Turboscan panel (enables the interactions between Stereo Investigator and OASIS)
- JoyTools panels (used to select lenses, instead of the drop-down menu in Stereo Investigator)
- Live Video window (instead of Live Image in Stereo Investigator)
Map window toolbar
The tools you're most likely to use are highlighted in yellow in the table below. 
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Moves the scan pattern (grid) to the current stage location. |
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Fit the entire stage in the view. |
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Deletes the scan pattern (grid). |
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Fit the background Prescan pattern as well as the Prescan image (if any) in the view (inactive). |
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Clears the scanned tiles (mosaic) to perform a new scan. |
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Fit the foreground scan pattern (grid) and scanned tiles (if any) in the view. |
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Clears the Prescan images from the background (inactive). |
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Sets the Map window zoom level to be the equivalent of the chosen objective magnification. |
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Predictive Focus: Use the dialog to define a series of focal points around the tissue; their correct focus positions in Z are stored. The positions of the other points are interpolated during scanning. |
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Hows/hides the lines of the scan pattern. |
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Performs a scan. |
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Default selection tool. Select it to disable clickable events in the Map window. |
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Moves the stage through each field of the scan pattern (grid) in sequence.Useful to inspect each field prior to scanning. |
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Stops a scan in progress. |
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Moves the stage to the first field of the scan pattern (grid). |
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Moves the stage to the mouse-clicked position in the Map window. |
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Moves the stage to the last field of the scan pattern (grid). |
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Moves the stage to the center of the field that you click in the Map window. |
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Currently disabled (Objective Imaging) |
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Adds an individual field to scan at the location clicked in the Map window. |
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Left-click to zoom in the view, right-click to zoom out. | ||
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Pan. | ||
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Drag the current scan pattern (grid) to re-position it. | ||
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Expands the scan pattern (grid) to encompass the current stage position. No effect if the current position is already within the scan pattern. |
Procedure
Step 1: Scan at low power to create a preview of the entire specimen.
- Select Acquisition>Turboscan.
- You are prompted to initialize the stage. Click OK.
- Stereo Investigator evaluates the stage limits.
- The Live Video window and several panels are displayed: Turboscan, Map, and JoyTools.
- You are prompted to initialize the stage. Click OK.
- Select a low power objective (e.g., 4x) at the microscope and, in JoyTools, select the corresponding lens from the drop-down menu .
- In Turboscan, select Image>Image setup to display the camera settings.
- Adjust the exposure and the balance, then click Apply
- Adjust the exposure and the balance, then click Apply
- Define the area to scan.
- Use the joystick to drive the stage to the top right corner of the slide.
- In the Map window, Click the Draw Scan Pattern icon.
- Drag the mouse to draw a Scan Pattern rectangle around the area to acquire.
- Drive the stage to the top left corner. The stage location is indicated by a small target icon in the Map panel.
- If the target icon is not inside the rectangle, click the Include XY position in Pattern icon to expand the rectangle and include the corner.
- If the target icon is not inside the rectangle, click the Include XY position in Pattern icon to expand the rectangle and include the corner.
- Drive the stage to the bottom left corner.
- If the target icon is not inside the rectangle, click the Include XY position in Pattern icon to expand the rectangle and include the corner.
- In the Map window, click the Run Scan button to start the acquisition.
- Select the Turboscan Stepped mode from the list.
In this mode, the stage stops at each field of view. - As tiles are scanned, a preview appears in the Scan Pattern rectangle in the Map panel.
- Select the Turboscan Stepped mode from the list.
Step 2: Scan an area of interest at a higher power.
- In the Map window, define the area to scan.
- Click the Draw Scan Pattern icon.
- Drag the mouse to draw a Scan Pattern rectangle around the area to acquire.
- To modify the scan pattern, right-click over the grid.
- Click the Clear mosaic icon to clear the scanned tiles.
- Click the Draw Scan Pattern icon.
- Click the Move to Stage XY icon to enable stage movement: When you click a point in the Map window representing the stage, the system automatically drives the stage to the desired location.
- Select a higher power objective on the microscope (e.g., 10x) and, in JoyTools, select the corresponding lens from the drop-down menu .
- Adjust the camera settings and apply background correction.
- Use the Live Video window and the joystick to find a blank area in the area of interest.
- In the Turboscan panel, select Image>Image Setup to display the camera settings.
- Use the Exposure and Balance tabs to make adjustments.
- Use the Shading tab to apply shading (i.e., background correction) for brightfield.
- Implement predictive focusing.
- In the Map window, click the Show Predictive Focus Dialog icon.
You are prompted to initialize focus. 
- Click OK. You are prompted to focus manually and to enter the upper and lower limits for the focus range.
- Click the Show Predictive Focus Dialog icon again to display the Predictive Focus Setup panel.
- Check the Enable Predictive Focus box.
- Use the joystick to select a focus point on the slide.
- Click Add. The focus point is indicated by a red target on the scan grid.
- Focus manually and click Update. The red target turns green.
- Use the joystick to select another focus point on the slide.
- Repeat steps iii-v for as many focus points as needed.
- Click OK.
- In the Map window, click the Show Predictive Focus Dialog icon.
- In the Map window, click the Run Scan button to start the acquisition.
- Select the Turboscan Stepped mode from the list. The acquisition starts.
- Once the acquisition is done, use the Zoom and Pan icons in the Map window to verify that the quality of the acquired image is satisfactory.
- Once you've clicked the Zoom icon, left-click to zoom in and right-click to zoom out.
- In the Turboscan panel, select File>Save workspace to save the series of scanned tiles in a .sws file.
- Select File>Exit.
Step 3: Assemble the tiles into an MBF JPEG2000 image
- In the Stereo Investigator menu, select Acquisition>Turboscan Compiler to assemble the tiles into a single image.
- Select the .sws file you saved after scanning and click OK.
- The new image doesn't open automatically. To view the assembled image, select File>Image Open in the Stereo Investigator menu.
Stereo Investigator 11 | MBF Bioscience Support Center | Downloads