Types of Hyperspectral Imaging Systems

To refresh, hyperspectral imaging systems use advanced spectral cameras and hyperspectral sensors to collect detailed spectral information across hundreds of wavelengths. These systems are used in applications including remote sensing, agriculture, industrial inspection, environmental monitoring, and SWIR imaging. Unlike traditional multispectral imaging systems, hyperspectral systems capture continuous spectral information across many narrow wavelength bands for more detailed spectral analysis.

As discussed in our previous post, Resonon’s hyperspectral imagers are line scan imagers, otherwise known as push-broom imagers. Each frame taken by the camera captures the light from a thin line of the object being scanned. To capture the entire object, either the imager or the object being imaged must translate while the other remains stationary, building up the datacube line by line

The Benchtop Reflectance System features an imager, such as Resonon's Pika® XC2, and illumination that remain stationary during data collection. 

The object being scanned sits atop a linear stage. Light is reflected off the object being scanned and is collected by the hyperspectral imager. The user sets the imager speed and the stage speed to create datacubes with enough signal to meet their data collection needs. 

This system is used to scan almost anything that weighs less than approximately 50 lbs. (~23 kg) and that can fit within the scanning area of approximately 10” x 10” (~250 mm x 250 mm ).

Resonon's Benchtop Reflectance/Transmission System can be used in two different configurations, either Reflectance or Transmission. The first is similar to the Reflectance System described above. 

With just a few adjustments to the system, it can be set up in Transmission configuration, in which the object being scanned sits atop a glass tray mounted to the linear stage, allowing for illumination from below the object. Light shines up through the object and the transmitted signal is collected by the hyperspectral imager mounted above the object. 

This system is used to scan objects that are not fully opaque, where the specific wavelengths transmitted are important to the user. Examples include thin film material or objects that are translucent.

The enclosure blocks ambient light from the data collection process, allowing the user to capture the highest-quality data without turning off the room lights for each scan.

We offer three versions of this system; two that translate horizontally (with the imager either pointing down towards the floor or parallel to the floor) and one system that translates vertically, with the imager pointing parallel to the floor. 

Examples of objects that can be scanned by one of these systems are pieces of artwork, aquariums, and relatively tall (up to 3 feet) plants.

This system is designed to hold square and round petri dishes, and features Resonon’s high-precision Pika XC2 to capture small features and the relatively weak-signal of fluorescence. The Bio-LIF system can be used to study any object that fluoresces and that fits into standard 90 mm Ø petri dishes or standard 96-well microplates. 

As an example, this system has been used to greatly accelerate the evolution of new fluorescent proteins.

Since the solar radiation incident on the scene being scanned is affected by factors such as cloud-cover and atmospheric haze, a reflectance calibration tarp is used in the scene being scanned. This tarp has a known spectral reflectance that allows for raw hyperspectral data from the scene to be converted into reflectance (the ratio of the amount of light leaving the scene to the amount of light incident upon the scene) data. 

Explore the complete collection of Resonon Hyperspectral Cameras.