How we cut data transfer times from 4 hours to just 30 minutes
Advancing neuroscience research requires working with multi-terabyte imaging datasets, but until recently, transferring and storing such vast amounts of data was a major challenge.
Our Advanced Lightsheet Imaging Center (ALICe) is one of Europe’s leading neuroimaging facilities, serving more than 150 users across multiple institutions. With advanced microscopy systems and cameras such as Teledyne Photometrics’ Prime BSI Express, our researchers capture highly detailed datasets that generate terabytes of data. Moving a single 2 TB dataset over a 1 Gbit/s connection used to take more than four hours. Limited storage, rising cloud costs, and fragmented access used to slow collaboration and delayed experiments worldwide.
Last year, we integrated Jetraw by Dotphoton into our advanced imaging infrastructure and this has transformed the way our teams work. With Jetraw integrated into our imaging infrastructure, all data from advanced acquisition systems and cameras such as Teledyne Photometrics’ Prime BSI Express is reduced in average by 87% in size and transferred 700% faster, while preserving the highest image quality. A 2 TB dataset now moves in just 30 minutes, enabling seamless global collaboration without workflow changes and accelerating research progress.
“Transferring large datasets used to be a major bottleneck in our workflow. Jetraw enables us to significantly enhance the impact of our work by facilitating the rapid sharing of large datasets, supporting numerous collaborations worldwide”
Laura Batti, ALICe Facility Manager
High-throughput imaging systems at Wyss generate over 100 TB of data annually. Among them, the Clearscope lightsheet microscope produces particularly demanding datasets, with single experiments often exceeding 2 TB. Transferring such datasets across a 1 Gbit/s connection could take over four hours, while storage limitations, cloud costs, and fragmented access slowed collaborations and delayed experiments.
The Jetraw solution has been implemented across all lightsheet systems to support the efficient handling and sharing of largescale imaging datasets. It compresses raw image data by up to ten times without compromising scientific quality. Acting as middleware between acquisition systems and storage infrastructure, it integrates seamlessly into workflows and enables instant decompression during processing. On the ClearScope, optimized for high-resolution imaging of large and complex samples such as whole-organ and multiregion acquisitions of cleared human tissues, Jetraw preserves the uncompromised quality of Teledyne Photometrics’ Prime BSI Express cameras for downstream visualization and analysis.
Transfers that once took hours now finish in minutes
Our Center achieved an 8:1 compression ratio, reducing storage needs by 87% and cutting dataset transfer times from four hours to just 30 minutes. Researchers can now share data seven times faster, enabling global teams to collaborate more effectively while reducing infrastructure costs.
Before Jetraw, transferring data across teams and systems was slow, costly, and unreliable. Today, datasets transfer smoothly between local storage systems, NAS, and cloud environments, with compressed files directly accessible in analysis tools. Improved data handling capacity allows Wyss Center to broaden access to its facility, strengthen international collaborations, and support new large-scale neuroscience projects at the forefront of research.
“Looking ahead, efficient data compression and management on systems like the ClearScope will be essential for high-throughput applications such as large-scale organoid imaging. By cutting storage demands and accelerating data transfer, Jetraw enables scalable workflows and unlocks screening strategies that were previously not feasible.”
Laura Batti, ALICe Facility Manager
Jetraw – Built to manage large image data
Jetraw is an image data management solution that sits between your microscopes and your storage systems. It streamlines the entire workflow from acquisition to storage, accelerates data transfers and sharing by an average factor of 7, reduces storage requirements by an average factor of 7, and preserves raw image quality in a compliant and secure way.
Learn more about Jetraw at dotphoton.com/products/jetraw.