scverse / scverse/spatialdata-io
MCMICRO reader does not support new nf-core/mcmicro output formats
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Description
We recently completed a port of MCMICRO to nf-core (https://nf-co.re/mcmicro/2.0.0). There are minor changes to expected output formats, and the current spatialdata_io.readers.mcmicro reader — written against the original labsyspharm/mcmicro layout — does not read nf-core output.
What changed between the two pipelines:
| Aspect | labsyspharm/mcmicro | nf-core/mcmicro |
|---|---|---|
| Run config | qc/params.yml (workflow.tma) |
pipeline_info/params*.json (tma_dearray, segmentation) |
| Registration | registration/<sample>.ome.tif |
registration/ashlar/<sample>.ome.tif |
| Segmentation | segmentation/<module>-<sample>/{cell,nuclei}.ome.tif |
segmentation/<segmenter>/<sample>_<tool-suffix>.tif |
| Quantification | quantification/<module>-<sample>_<comp>.csv |
quantification/mcquant/<segmenter>/<sample>.csv |
| TMA cores | dearray/ + qc/coreograph/centroidsY-X.txt |
tma_dearray/ (plus TMA_MAP.tif) + tma_dearray/centroidsY-X.txt |
| Markers | markers.csv at root |
input sheet (often not copied to outdir); backsub/<sample>_backsub.csv when backsub runs |
| Samples / segmenters | single sample, typically one segmenter | multiple samples and multiple segmenters per run |
Gotchas found while testing against real nf-core/mcmicro output that will need to be considered:
- Segmentation mask filenames are tool-specific, not a uniform
_masksuffix — e.g.1_cp_masks.tif(cellpose) vsexemplar-002_1_mask.tif(mesmer). - The segmenter directory name differs between
segmentation/andquantification/mcquant/(e.g. deepcell_mesmer vs mesmer), so tables can't be linked to labels by an exact directory-name match. - With background subtraction, the registration image and the quantification tables carry different marker sets (e.g. 40 image channels vs 37 table markers).
- TMA core numbers must be parsed carefully — the sample name itself can contain digits (
exemplar-002_1_mask→ core1, not002) — andtma_dearray/also containsTMA_MAP.tif, which is not a core. - The
prelude/markers_markersheet_mqc.tsvfile is a long-format MultiQC validation report, not a usable wide marker sheet.
Proposal
Update the mcmicro reader to auto-detect the pipeline (with an explicit pipeline= override) and handle both layouts, including multiple samples and segmenters, in WSI and TMA modes. Backwards compatibility with labsyspharm output is preserved.
Contributor guide
First steps
- Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
- Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
- Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
- Open a pull request that references the issue number.
Research direction
Start in spatialdata_io.readers.mcmicro and compare its assumptions with the two output layouts listed in the issue. Trace how registration, segmentation, quantification, markers, and TMA cores are discovered, then define validation cases for multiple samples and segmenters, pipeline auto-detection, and the explicit override. Done means both labsyspharm and nf-core outputs remain readable, including WSI and TMA cases.
Written by the indexing model from the issue text.
Assessment
- Tech stack
- python
- Domain
- data
- Issue type
- Feature
- Difficulty
- 5/5
- Estimated time
- Over a week
- Activity status
- Quiet
- Clarity
- Mostly clear
- Newbie friendliness
- 48/100