Locally adaptive thresholding centroid localization in confocal microscopy

We introduce an iteration-free approach, based on a centroid algorithm with a locally adaptive threshold, for nanometer-level peak position localization of the axial response signal in confocal microscopy. This approach has localization accuracies that are near theoretical limits, especially when there is a small number of sampling points within the discrete signal. The algorithm is also orders of magnitude faster compared to fitting schemes based onmaximum likelihood estimation. Simulations and experiments demonstrate the localization performance of the approach. (C) 2021 Optical Society of America

Automated summary

The iteration-free approach based on a centroid algorithm with a locally adaptive threshold achieves nanometer-level peak position localization of the axial response signal in confocal microscopy. The localization accuracies are near theoretical limits, especially with a small number of sampling points within the discrete signal. The algorithm is orders of magnitude faster than fitting schemes based on maximum likelihood estimation. Simulations and experiments demonstrate the approach's localization performance.