AI Models

EVAnalyzer can run pretrained deep-learning models as a segmentation step in a pipeline, in builds with the ai Cargo feature enabled (via tch-rs/libtorch). Models are supplied by you as a TorchScript export (.pt/.pth) - EVAnalyzer does not bundle or download any models itself.

Importing a model from bioimage.io

Rather than configuring a model’s parameters by hand, you can import a bioimage.io model’s rdf.yaml directly from the command picker, which auto-detects the architecture and pre-fills the step for you. See Importing bioimage.io Models.

Three architectures are currently implemented as pipeline commands:

Model	Predicts	Separates touching objects?
Stardist	Star-convex polygon per object instance	Yes, directly
UNet	Per-pixel foreground/background mask	No - requires a follow-up step
Cellpose	Flow field (dY/dX) + cell-probability map	Yes, directly (via flow dynamics)

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Stardist

Stardist represents each detected object as a star-convex polygon: a set of radial distances from the object centroid to its boundary, sampled at fixed angles. Because the model predicts complete object instances directly, EVAnalyzer’s Stardist command needs no follow-up splitting step - touching, non-overlapping objects (e.g. nuclei) come out already separated.

When to use it: objects that are roughly convex and don’t overlap - stained nuclei are the classic case.

See the Stardist command reference for parameters and model output requirements.

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UNet

U-Net is a convolutional encoder–decoder network with skip connections between matching encoder/decoder levels, which preserve fine spatial detail lost during downsampling. EVAnalyzer’s UNet command only extracts a semantic foreground mask - it has no concept of individual object instances, so touching objects come out as one merged blob unless you address it explicitly:

• Boundary-aware models (mask + boundary channels) - use the boundary channel to carve gaps between objects, then a plain Connected Components step.
• Mask-only models - chain Connected Components → Watershed to split blobs that still have a “waist”.

When to use it: irregular or elongated shapes, or any model trained for pixel-level semantic segmentation rather than instance detection.

See the UNet command reference for the full parameter list and both splitting strategies.

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Cellpose

Cellpose predicts a flow field: a vector at every pixel pointing toward the centre of the object it belongs to, plus a cell-probability map. EVAnalyzer’s Cellpose command follows these flows pixel by pixel until they converge to a sink, then groups pixels that converge to the same sink into one instance - recovering individual objects directly, including ones with irregular or overlapping shapes that defeat star-convex polygons.

When to use it: whole cells (cytoplasm), irregular morphology, or any case where objects aren’t well approximated by convex polygons.

See the Cellpose command reference for parameters and model output requirements.

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Choosing a Model

Does the model predict individual object instances directly?
  ├─ Star-convex polygon export (probability + ray distances) → Stardist
  ├─ Flow field + cell-probability export (dY, dX, cellprob)   → Cellpose
  └─ No, it's a semantic mask (foreground vs. background, optionally + boundary)
              └─ UNet, with Connected Components (+ Watershed or boundary carving)