dirigo 0.3.8

Dirigo is an extensible backend for scientific image acquisition

Dirigo

Dirigo is an extensible, high-performance backend for scientific image acquisition, designed with high-speed laser scanning microscopy in mind but adaptable to a wide range of medium- to high-complexity imaging systems.

Dirigo separates hardware control, acquisition logic, and user interface, making it easy to:

• Add new hardware via plugin drivers that implement generic device interfaces (digitizers, scanners, stages, cameras, etc.)

• Reconfigure data acquisition and processing pipelines using a Worker/publisher–subscriber model

• Integrate adaptive acquisition strategies through feedback loops between processing and control

• Build custom GUIs or integrate with existing tools via a clean API (a reference GUI is available as a separate package)

Performance-critical operations are accelerated with Numba JIT compilation, releasing the GIL during execution and enabling parallel/vectorized processing.

Dirigo follows a modular, package-oriented architecture: almost all components—hardware drivers, processing modules, GUIs—are separate Python packages that can be developed, installed, and updated independently.

Dirigo is in very early development. While the API and architecture are functional, documentation and ready-to-use releases are in progress.

Digitizer ↔ LSM mode compatibility

Legend: ✓ supported now · △ possible/experimental · ✗ not recommended/unsupported · — unknown

Digitizer (vendor/model family)	Galvo–Galvo analog	Galvo–Galvo photon counting	Resonant–Galvo analog	Polygon–Galvo analog
NI X-Series (e.g., PCIe-63xx)	✓*	✓ (up to 4 chan.)	✗†	✗†
NI S-Series (e.g., PCI-6110/6115)	✓	✓ (up to 2 chan.)	△§	△§
AlazarTech (e.g., ATS9440)	✓	✗	✓	✓
Teledyne SP Devices (e.g., ADQ32)	✓	✗	✓	✓
Other / custom (contact TDW)	—	—	—	—

Notes
* Multichannel acquisition subject to aggregate AI sample rate (e.g 2 channels: 500 kS/s, 4 channels 250 kS/s).
† AI sample rate typically insufficient for resonant/polygon rates.
§ Borderline: Max sample rate may limit pixels per line, dependent on scanner frequency. Not yet validated.

Funding

Development of Dirigo has been supported in part by the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health under award number R01CA249151.

The content of this repository is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.