Mission

Catalyze scientific discovery from sensory measurements to knowledge
The image shows a recently formed rift in the shelf of Thwaites Glacier signalizing future ice shelf break-up impacting global sea level rise
Image: Celia A. Baumhoer, DLR

Helmholtz Imaging catalyzes scientific discovery, from sensory measurements to knowledge. Our mission is to unlock the potential of imaging in the Helmholtz Association and beyond by improving leverage and access to the innovative imaging modalities, applications and data treasures of Helmholtz, and to enable the delivery of generalizable imaging solutions.

Imaging is everywhere in science. From nanotechnology to astronomy, and from particle physics to marine biology, images store spatial and temporal data across all scales and research domains. We support researchers in unlocking this potential, offering expert consulting and guidance, tools and methods, and direct, free support across disciplines.

The Imaging Pipeline: A Holistic Approach

Helmholtz Imaging pipeline supporting imaging from data acquisition to dissemination. Helmholtz Imaging’s holistic scope facilitates the incorporation of feedback loops.

Imaging is not just a snapshot – it’s a process. That’s why Helmholtz Imaging supports the entire imaging pipeline, consisting of:

  1. Data acquisition – capturing signals using advanced imaging modalities
  2. Image formation – reconstructing images from the signals of a sensor by solving inverse problems
  3. Data integration – design of generic imaging solutions across scales and modalities
  4. Data exploration – support informative and interactive image visualization and rendering
  5. Image analysis – ensure reliable application of image analysis systems in practice
  6. Knowledge dissemination – enable knowledge extraction and facilitate reliable algorithm validation through open benchmarking competitions

Helmholtz Imaging tightly interconnects domain expertise in data acquisition and image formation modeling, algorithmic image reconstruction (computational imaging), multi-modal image integration, visualization, analysis, knowledge extraction, and dissemination. A flow through this pipeline constitutes a full imaging solution, where Helmholtz lmaging’s holistic scope facilitates the incorporation of feedback loops.

Such backward loops are crucial not just in closed-loop imaging scenarios (where analysis results steer subsequent data acquisition on-the-fly), but also to enable end-to-end improvement of overall imaging solutions, ranging from improved sensor systems to task-tailored benchmarking.

With anchor sites at DESY, DKFZ, and MDC, we cover the full spectrum of this imaging pipeline, supporting a wide range of scientific challenges and enabling holistic, cross-domain solutions.

Do you need support? No imaging challenge is too big, no detail too small! We provide:

Reach out to us at support@helmholtz-imaging.de or via our contact form.