Pore3D: A software library for quantitative analysis of porous media

In recent years great interest has been posed in imaging techniques like X-ray computed microtomography which in a nondestructive way produce three-dimensional (3D) images of the internal structure of, e.g. porous media. A major challenge lies in the quantitative analysis of the resulting images that allows a more comprehensive and objective characterization of the sample under investigation. A software able to handle and process large 3D image datasets with common hardware is therefore necessary in order to extract morphological and textural information directly from the images. In the present paper the Pore3D software library developed by the SYRMEP research group of the Elettra Synchrotron Light Laboratory in Trieste (Italy) is presented. The library consists of several state-of-the-art functions and procedures for performing filtering, segmentation and quantitative analysis of 3D images. The current status of the project and some applications are here reported.