diff --git a/poetry.lock b/poetry.lock
index 833588f..bcf0955 100644
--- a/poetry.lock
+++ b/poetry.lock
@@ -105,13 +105,13 @@ test = ["pytest (>=6)"]
 
 [[package]]
 name = "imcf-fiji-mocks"
-version = "0.10.0"
+version = "0.11.0"
 description = "Mocks collection for Fiji-Python. Zero functional code."
 optional = false
 python-versions = ">=2.7"
 files = [
-    {file = "imcf_fiji_mocks-0.10.0-py2.py3-none-any.whl", hash = "sha256:476927d82fa0e93b0b0b738f82cab60e180cf0da5b3dd09dc6a5336b08e18d2d"},
-    {file = "imcf_fiji_mocks-0.10.0.tar.gz", hash = "sha256:d1f3302031cad5f1d15388bf337025bbfb59037a04e79a102de59093e643a5f5"},
+    {file = "imcf_fiji_mocks-0.11.0-py2.py3-none-any.whl", hash = "sha256:8695be371eb8b811e63996af04f76588e97f35c46eb5fa6f8cee0237f949b984"},
+    {file = "imcf_fiji_mocks-0.11.0.tar.gz", hash = "sha256:d7f0fb592f72afc55e1ac3ea82f6a4f36e22482412e54a21fd1d91db4392bb47"},
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -271,4 +271,4 @@ files = [
 [metadata]
 lock-version = "2.0"
 python-versions = ">=3.10"
-content-hash = "6b4a1828157bbddc15f61de0427a3d7970a61da1750f2cbf9e160f1b7546d7c9"
+content-hash = "53a8a3d96664d128652b6a94163691dc764dd114f25e3daf373a4baf41ce3799"
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index c722202..d8c9839 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ version = "0.0.0"
 # - or: python = ">=3.10"
 
 [tool.poetry.dependencies]
-imcf-fiji-mocks = ">=0.10.0"
+imcf-fiji-mocks = ">=0.11.0"
 python = ">=2.7"
 python-micrometa = "^15.2.2"
 sjlogging = ">=0.5.2"
diff --git a/src/imcflibs/imagej/bdv.py b/src/imcflibs/imagej/bdv.py
index 5cc7b41..2bf48df 100644
--- a/src/imcflibs/imagej/bdv.py
+++ b/src/imcflibs/imagej/bdv.py
@@ -18,6 +18,10 @@
 )
 from ij import IJ
 
+from java.io import File, FileInputStream, InputStreamReader
+from javax.xml.parsers import DocumentBuilderFactory
+from org.xml.sax import InputSource
+
 from .. import pathtools
 from ..log import LOG as log
 
@@ -1648,3 +1652,79 @@ def fuse_dataset_bdvp(
         "compress_temp_files",
         False,
     )
+
+def read_metadata_from_xml(xml_path):
+    """Extract metadata from a Zeiss Lightsheet microscopy XML file.
+
+    Parses the XML document to retrieve the number of channels, illuminations,
+    and timepoints from the experiment metadata.
+
+    Parameters
+    ----------
+    xml_path : str
+        Path to the XML metadata file.
+
+    Returns
+    -------
+    dict
+        A dictionary containing the following keys:
+        - 'channels_count': Number of channels in the dataset
+        - 'illuminations_count': Number of illumination directions
+        - 'timepoints_count': Number of timepoints in the dataset
+
+    Examples
+    --------
+    >>> metadata = read_metadata_from_xml("/path/to/experiment.xml")
+    >>> print(metadata["channels_count"])
+    2
+    >>> print(metadata["illuminations_count"])
+    4
+    >>> print(metadata["timepoints_count"])
+    1
+    """
+    # Use our robust XML parsing function
+    dbf = DocumentBuilderFactory.newInstance()
+    db = dbf.newDocumentBuilder()
+    # This is needed to fix some issues with the micron symbol in the xml file
+    reader = InputStreamReader(FileInputStream(File(xml_path)))
+    dom = db.parse(InputSource(reader))
+
+    # Initialize default values
+    nbr_chnl = 1
+    nbr_ill = 1
+    nbr_tp = 1
+
+    try:
+        # Extract channel and illumination counts
+        nodeList = dom.getElementsByTagName("Attributes")
+        for i in range(nodeList.getLength()):
+            name_attr = nodeList.item(i).getAttributes().getNamedItem("name")
+            if name_attr is None:
+                continue
+
+            node = name_attr.getNodeValue()
+            if node == "channel":
+                nbr_chnl = int(
+                    nodeList.item(i).getElementsByTagName("Channel").getLength()
+                )
+            if node == "illumination":
+                nbr_ill = int(
+                    nodeList.item(i).getElementsByTagName("Illumination").getLength()
+                )
+
+        # Get timepoints
+        timepoints_node = dom.getElementsByTagName("Timepoints")
+        if timepoints_node.getLength() > 0:
+            last_nodes = timepoints_node.item(0).getElementsByTagName("last")
+            if last_nodes.getLength() > 0:
+                nbr_tp = int(last_nodes.item(0).getTextContent()) + 1
+    except Exception as e:
+        log.error("Error extracting metadata from XML: {0}".format(str(e)))
+
+    xml_metadata = {
+        "channels_count": nbr_chnl,
+        "illuminations_count": nbr_ill,
+        "timepoints_count": nbr_tp,
+    }
+
+    return xml_metadata
\ No newline at end of file