TransiScope: An Interactive Open-Source Platform for Automated Detection and Analysis of Transient Events in Time-Lapse Microscopy

Abstract

The quantitative analysis of dynamic cellular events from time-lapse microscopy is critical for understanding biological processes but is often hindered by low signal-to-signal ratios and subjective manual parameter 1,2.To address these limitations, TransiScope was developed as an open-source tool built on Python and the napari viewer, offering a seamless workflow within a single graphical user interface2-4. Its key innovation is a data driven, interactive approach to parameter optimization, where the software analyzes user defined regions of interest (ROIs) to propose optimal settings for algorithms like the Difference of Gaussians (DoG) filter5,6, ensuring consistency by averaging signals from multiple ROIs. The platforms performance, validated using open-resource .avi files from published studies, demonstrates high specificity and a low false-positive rate, accurately quantifying events in signal-positive regions while correctly identifying zero events in background areas7-11. By replacing manual trial-and-error with a guided workflow, TransiScope enhances the objectivity, speed, and reproducibility of transient event analysis, providing an accessible solution for robust quantitative imaging12.