Miop: a modular pipeline for 3D reconstruction from scanning electron microscope images

Powdered materials are ubiquitous in nature and widely used in industries such as food, cosmetics, and construction.These materials consist of small grains with a broad size and shape distribution, typically in the micrometer range.Understanding their microscale behavior requires accurate geometric characterization.Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) provides a fast and accessible method for imaging powdered materials at this scale.By leveraging the tilt capabilities of the microscope, along with feature-matching algorithms, it is possible to reconstruct the three-dimensional (3D) shape of individual grains.We introduce Miop, a modular pipeline for 3D reconstruction from SEM images.Miop implements key steps of a 3D reconstruction workflow, including feature matching, estimation of (intrinsic and extrinsic) camera parameters, and point cloud reconstruction.It models the image generation process using a scaled orthographic projection and can incorporate microscope metadata, such as stage tilt and rotation angle.Designed for flexibility, Miop is easily extensible and modifiable, providing researchers with a practical tool for 3D reconstruction of powdered materials.An example of a typical reconstruction generated by Miop is illustrated in Figure 1.