docs: def _build_url(self, route, params={}):
          '''Builds the full URL based on the base URL (``http://<host>:<port>``)
          and the provided `route`.
  
          Parameters
          ----------
          route: str
              route used by the TissueMAPS RESTful API
          params: dict, optional
              optional parameters that need to be included in the URL query string
  
          Returns
          -------
          str
              URL
          '''
          url = self._base_url + route
          if not params:
              logger.debug('url: %s', url)
              return url
          url = '{url}?{params}'.format(url=url, params=urlencode(params))
          logger.debug('url: %s', url)
          return url