Fast Optimized Cluster Algorithm for Localizations (FOCAL): a spatial cluster analysis for super-resolved microscopy

摘要

Motivation: Single-molecule localization microscopy (SMLM) microscopy provides images of cellular structure at a resolution an order of magnitude below what can be achieved by conventional diffraction limited techniques. The concomitantly larger data sets generated by SMLM require increasingly efficient image analysis software. Density based clustering algorithms, with the most ubiquitous being DBSCAN, are commonly used to quantitatively assess sub-cellular assemblies. DBSCAN, however, is slow, scaling with the number of localizations like O(n log (n)) at best, and it's performance is highly dependent upon a subjectively selected choice of parameters.