CHAPTER 5 - Hyperspectral Imaging Instruments

Abstract

This chapter focuses on instrumentation for hyperspectral imaging technique, with an emphasis on those that have found applications in food quality analysis and control. It provides an introduction of methods for hyperspectral image acquisition. It emphasizes to introduce a variety of essential components for constructing hyperspectral imaging systems, including light sources, wavelength dispersion devices, and detectors. Point scanning, line scanning, area scanning, and single shot are four major methods for acquiring hyperspectral images. Various line-scanning and area-scanning hyperspectral measurement systems have been developed and used successfully for the quality and safety inspection of food and agricultural products. Related instruments for constructing and calibrating scanning imaging systems, such as light sources, wavelength dispersion devices, detectors, standard test charts, calibration sources, and standard reflectance panels, are already commercially available. Single-shot hyperspectral imagers can capture 3-dimensional hypercubes at high speed without any scanning. They represent a new direction in hyperspectral instrument development, while such devices are still in the early development stage. New instrument design concepts are continuously introduced, and current instruments and systems can also be improved to achieve better performance. The advances in hyperspectral imaging instruments, along with the progress in hyperspectral image-processing techniques, will inspire the future development of hyperspectral imaging technology.