PhotonLab

A high-performance workstation for professional 16-bit TIFF image visualization, analysis, and processing.

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Table of Contents

• 1. Features
  • Image Visualization
  • Image Processing
  • Architecture Features
  • Analysis and Diagnostics
• 2. Cross Platform Native Build
• 3. Solution Structure
  • Components
• 4. Architecture
• 5. Image Processing Pipeline
• 6. Build Requirements
  • Development Environment
  • Native Dependencies
• 7. Testing
  • Unit Tests
  • Integration Tests
  • Native Tests
• 8. Native Integration
• 9. Future Enhancements
• 10. License

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System Architecture Overview

The following diagram illustrates the strict downward dependency flow within PhotonLab, ensuring a responsive UI and high-performance image processing:

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High-Performance 16-Bit TIFF Review and Processing Workstation

PhotonLab is a desktop imaging application designed for viewing, analyzing, and processing 16-bit TIFF images. The platform combines a modern WPF user interface, a managed C# service layer, and a high-performance native C++ processing engine to deliver responsive visualization and advanced image analysis capabilities.

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Features

Image Visualization

• 16-bit TIFF image support
• Window/Level based visualization
• Real-time zoom and fit-to-screen
• Pixel-level inspection (cursor tracking)
• Metadata display (dimensions, bit depth, format)

Image Processing

• Gamma correction
• Median filtering
• Sharpening filter
• Window/Level transformation
• Native high-performance processing pipeline

Analysis and Diagnostics

• Real-time histogram generation
• Statistical analysis (min, max, mean, median, std dev)
• Normalized histogram scaling (log-based)
• Session-based image state management

Export Capabilities

• PNG export
• JPEG export
• TIFF export
• Session-aware rendering export

Architecture Features

• MVVM-based WPF architecture
• Dependency injection friendly design
• Async processing pipeline (non-blocking UI)
• Managed → Native interop layer
• OpenTelemetry tracing integration
• Structured logging (ILogger)

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Cross Platform Native Build

PhotonLab includes a fully automated Docker-based native build pipeline.

Developer
      │
      ▼
Docker Multi-stage Build
      │
      ├───────────────► Linux (.so)
      │
      ├───────────────► Windows (.dll via MinGW)
      │
      └───────────────► macOS (.dylib local build)
      │
      ▼
GoogleTest Validation
      │
      ▼
Artifact Extraction
      │
      ▼
Unified Distribution

Solution Structure

PhotonLab/
├── PhotonLab.Native
├── PhotonLab.Core
├── PhotonLab.Desktop
├── PhotonLab.UnitTests
├── PhotonLab.IntegrationTests
└── PhotonLab.NativeTests

Components

Project	Responsibility
PhotonLab.Native	Native C++ image processing engine
PhotonLab.Core	Contracts, DTOs, shared abstractions
PhotonLab.Desktop	WPF application, ViewModels, services, UI
PhotonLab.UnitTests	Managed component unit tests
PhotonLab.IntegrationTests	Native interop and end-to-end integration validation
PhotonLab.NativeTests	Native processing engine validation

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Architecture

PhotonLab follows a layered architecture based on MVVM principles and strict separation of concerns.

┌──────────────────────────────┐
│           WPF UI             │
└──────────────┬───────────────┘
               │
               ▼
┌──────────────────────────────┐
│         ViewModels           │
└──────────────┬───────────────┘
               │
               ▼
┌──────────────────────────────┐
│     Application Services     │
│  Rendering / Statistics /    │
│  Histogram / Export / TIFF   │
└──────────────┬───────────────┘
               │
               ▼
┌──────────────────────────────┐
│      Core Contracts & DTOs   │
└──────────────┬───────────────┘
               │
               ▼
┌──────────────────────────────┐
│      Native Interop Layer    │
└──────────────┬───────────────┘
               │
               ▼
┌──────────────────────────────┐
│   Native C++ Processing      │
└──────────────────────────────┘

Additional architecture documentation is available in:

Docs/
└── Architecture/
    ├── Overview.md
    ├── HighLevelArchitecture.md
    ├── ProcessingPipeline.md
    └── NativeInterop.md

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Image Processing Pipeline

PhotonLab processes images through a session-based pipeline:

• Load TIFF via ITiffLoader
• Initialize session via IImageSessionService
• Process pixels via IImageProcessingService
• Render BGRA32 display buffer via IImageRenderer
• Update WPF BitmapSource
• Refresh statistics and histogram asynchronously

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Build Requirements

Development Environment

• Visual Studio 2022
• .NET 8 SDK
• C++17 Compiler
• Windows 10/11 SDK

Native Dependencies

• CMake 3.25+
• MSVC Toolchain
• Native TIFF processing libraries (if applicable)

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Testing

PhotonLab includes multiple testing layers.

Unit Tests

PhotonLab.UnitTests

Coverage includes:

• Services
• DTO validation
• Processing workflows
• Histogram generation
• Statistics calculations

Integration Tests

PhotonLab.IntegrationTests

Coverage includes:

• Native interop validation
• TIFF loading workflow
• Managed-to-native communication
• End-to-end processing pipelines

Native Tests

PhotonLab.NativeTests

Coverage includes:

• Gamma correction
• Median filtering
• Sharpen filtering
• Histogram generation
• Window/Level processing

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Native Integration

PhotonLab uses a managed-to-native architecture:

C# UI
  ↓
Service Layer
  ↓
Contracts
  ↓
P/Invoke Interop
  ↓
Native C++ Engine

This approach enables a responsive user experience while leveraging native performance for computationally intensive image operations.

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Future Enhancements

• CLAHE enhancement
• SIMD optimization
• GPU acceleration
• DICOM support
• Multi-image comparison
• Tile-based processing
• Multi-threaded rendering pipeline

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License

Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0.

See LICENSE for details.