System and method for instrument response correction based on independent measurement of the sample

A system comprising:

• an illumination source for illuminating a sample to thereby generate a first plurality of interacted photons and a second plurality of interacted photons;
• a collection optics for collecting at least one of said first plurality of interacted photons and said second plurality of interacted photons;
• a dispersive spectrometer for detecting said first plurality of interacted photons and generating at least one reference spectrum representative of said sample;
• at least one fiber optic, wherein a first end of said fiber optic is coupled to said collection optics and said second end is coupled to an entrance slit of said dispersive spectrometer;
• a tunable filter for sequentially filtering said second plurality of interacted photons into a plurality of predetermined wavelength bands;
• an imaging detector configured so as to detect said second plurality of interacted photons to thereby generate at least one hyperspectral test image representative of said sample.

A data storage medium containing program code, which, when executed by a processor causes said processor to perform the following:

• illuminate a sample to thereby generate a first plurality of interacted photons and a second plurality of interacted photons;
• detect said first plurality of interacted photons using a dispersive spectrometer to thereby generate at least one reference spectrum representative of said sample;
• pass said second plurality of interacted photons through a tunable filter;
• detect said second plurality of interacted photons using an imaging detector to thereby generate at least one hyperspectral test image representative of said sample;
• assess said test image to thereby determine a mean test spectrum wherein said mean test spectrum is representative of the mean of the intensity at each pixel in said hyperspectral test image;
• compare said mean test spectrum to said reference spectrum to thereby determine an instrument response correction;
• and
• apply said instrument response correction to said hyperspectral test image.