KipTool, a general purpose processing tool for neutron imaging data

Abstract

KipTool is a multi-platform general purpose software to process and enhance 2D and 3D imaging data implemented in C++. It was first developed to process data coming from neutron imaging experiments performed at Paul Scherrer Institut. Meanwhile, it has evolved into a general purpose tool that makes it suitable to process more broadly imaging datasets coming from scientific experiments. Several modules for image enhancement are implemented, among which there are scattering and background correction, denoising through an inverse scale space technique and non-linear diffusion filter, as well as more imaging specific cleaning algorithms such as outlier removal and stripe filtering. The software is characterized by a flexible architecture that allows configuring a processing chain by combining a custom selection of available algorithm modules. It furthermore allows for image file handling and conversions, threshold-based image segmentation, and stitching of registered data sets. Depending on the problem to be solved, it can be applied on both raw data, i.e. radiographs, and processed data sets, such as reconstructed tomography. Both command line and graphical user interface modes are available, with specific dialogs to guide configuration of the selected module. These dialogs improve user interaction and guide parameter tuning. Keywords: Image processing, Image enhancement, Neutron imaging