Hyperspectral Imaging with Liquid- Crystal Tunable Filter for Tissues Characterization

We developed and characterized a new near-infrared hyperspectral imaging system. The system consists of a charged coupled device and liquid crystal tunable filter, which is continuously tunable in the near-infrared spectral range of 650-1100 nm with a mean bandwidth of 5 nm. Experiments are conducted to quantitatively determine normal tissues characterization. In the first experiment, hyperspectral images are acquired from normal lung tissue phantom and analyzed. The data shows obvious peak absorption intensity at four different near infrared wavelengths (760, 805, 905, and 970 nm). In the second experiment, the simulated malign lung tissue phantom is used to compare the spectrum between normal and malign tissues. The experimental result indicates that for different type of tissues, the absorption intensity of the spectrum integrated over near-infrared spectral region was considerably different in normal tissues and simulated malign tissues. This difference provides the basis for the detection and delineation of the malign tissue margins from the normal tissues.