Analysis, secure access to, and transmission of array images

A method of determining alignment between two or more images, where each image is of a correspondingly arranged array having corresponding subsets of distinguishable signals, comprising:

• establishing a two-dimensional grid having units, each unit corresponding to a particular position in the arrays from which a signal originates, and aligning the two grids such that corresponding signals align in a one-to-one correspondence such that a detectable difference results when one array is shifted out of alignment by one or more grid units with respect to the other array.

A method of image segmentation producing a partition of an image of a planar array of objects, comprising:

• determining overall orientation of the array using a set of reference lines which are brought into alignment with symmetry axes of the array;
• replicating the reference lines by shifting normal to each symmetry direction and finding the shortest path connecting the starting point and point of each shifted reference line;
• replicating the replicating step until the replicated reference line falls outside the array boundary.