Hyperspectral Imaging Basics

Hyperspectral imaging consists of acquisition and analysis of images recorded using a number of different wavelengths of light (spectral bands). If we capture the same object on many bands of the spectrum, we could generate a data cube - each slice revealing different information depending on the chemical properties of the object. An information that more limited scanners can not pick up. A very simplified example is comparison between color and black-and-white photography.

Here is an example of a hypercube recorded of a burn patient. The skin damage is more obvious at the blue light (400 nm light wavelength), where the light penetrates top layer of skin. While the red slice - an image recording reflectance off red light (700 nm light wavelength) - shows little damage to the deep tissue.

Work was done while at HyperMed, Inc: HyperMed