Security Stripes
be used “as is” because the companion data field is simply another part of the picture. One need not be concerned about which subset of TIFF tags the program (or version) supports. Te image can be converted to any other loss-less format. Tere is no need to carry and keep a track of companion files. Stripe removal is immediately apparent, because the strip is visible. Tis approach does not preclude other protocols for
incorporating information into a file. Manufacturers can continue to embed experimental information in the TIFF header; those who have proprietary (loss-less) file formats can continue to use them. Tus backward compatibility can be maintained and an incremental path toward a real standard is available. Tere is adequate space for additional comments and the recording of additional image processing operations—like a continuing lab book. Note that there is a complication. It is necessary to obtain
encoding and decoding programs to read, write, and validate the information contained in the stripe. Technically, this is a simple process. A stand-alone application can read or write the encoded information. Better implementations would employ plug-ins to provide this functionality within image display programs. Te authors propose that this method be publicly available so that all suppliers of digital imaging equipment can freely implement the reading and writing of the Security Stripe. Example code will be made available by the authors at
http://www.amtimaging.com/sampleCode.html.
Where to Go From Here Digital imaging is virtually forcing scientific records to be
paperless, but security and documentation become problems when protocols for data storage are not standardized. Te security stripe concept takes its cue from the more traditional film-based approaches where magnification information is ‘burned’ into a plate and images are pasted into a notebook with companion data. Its essential purpose is to locate relevant image data in single place and do so in a fashion that inhibits modification aſter the fact. We would like to encourage the Microscopy Society of
America to define a standard format for recording that uses this type of visible seal containing experimental conditions and authentication data as one tool for data documentation. Tis approach to dealing with digital information is different from what has been done in the past, so it can serve as a fresh start, enabling the definition of a standard while at the same time avoiding issues that orphan proprietary formats would generate.
References [1] JM MacKenzie et al., Microscopy Today 14(1) (2006) 40. [2] U.S. Food and Drug Administration, “CFR 21 Part 11,”
http://www.fda.gov/ora/compliance_ref/Part11/.
[3] CSE’s White Paper on Promoting Integrity in Scientific Journal Publications,
http://www.councilscienceeditors. org/editorial_policies/whitepaper/
3-4_digital.cfm (Accessed Nov., 2009).
[4] M Rossner, Te Scientist 20(3) (2006) 24–25. [5] I Hames, Te Journal of the European Medical Writers Association 17(4) (2008) 164–67.
2010 September •
www.microscopy-today.com 27
[6] Kevin McIlrath, Hitachi High Technologies America, Pleasanton, CA, personal communication.
[7] TS Baker,
http://cryoem.ucsd.edu/microscopes/DM3. shtm (accessed 2009).
[8] Adobe Developers Association, Adobe Systems Incorporated, TIFF Revision 6.0 (1992), page 34,
http://partners.adobe.com/public/developer/en/tiff/ TIFF6.pdf.
[9] J Swedlow, I Goldberg, K Eliceiri, and OME Consortium, Annual Review of Biophysics 28 (2009) 327–46.
[10] H Farid, IEEE Spectrum, 46(8) (2009) 42–47. [11]H Farid, IEEE Signal Proc Mag 26(2) (2009) 16–25. [12] W Wong, Digital Video Forensics, Ph.D. thesis, Dartmouth College, June 2009.
[13] M Richardson, Am J Roentgenol 164 (1995) 228–29. [14] I Avcibas, S Bayram, N Memon, B Sankur, and M Ramkumar, Proc of IEEE ICIP (2004) 2645–48.
[15] SK Suvarna, MA Ansary, Histopathology 39 (2001) 441–46.
[16] U.S. Food and Drug Administration, CFR – Code of Federal Regulations Title 21,
http://www.accessdata.fda. gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfcfr/
CFRSearch.cfm? CFRPart=11.
[17]Te Open Microscopy Environment, http://www.
openmicroscopy.org/site.
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