Spectral imaging system for remote and noninvasive detection of target substances using spectral filter arrays and image capture arrays

A method of using a spectral imaging system to capture image information to detect one or more target substances in a scene, comprising the steps of:

• a) providing an image capture array comprising a plurality of image capturing elements;
• b) providing a plurality of interchangeable, spectral filter arrays that are interchangeably selectable to be optically aligned with the image capture array, and wherein each spectral filter array comprises a plurality of spectral filter elements and a filter array identifier;
• c) selecting and optically aligning a spectral filter array with the image capture array to provide a plurality of wavelength channels that independently capture spectrally filtered images;
• d) using the filter array identifier to automatically identify the selected spectral filter array;
• e) automatically selecting one or more algorithms pre-associated with the identified spectral filter array from a library of algorithms;
• f) using the wavelength channels to capture spectrally filtered image information of the scene;
• and
• g) using the captured spectrally filtered image information and the automatically selected one or more algorithms to determine whether the one or more target substances are detected in the scene.

A spectral imaging system for capturing a plurality of spectrally filtered images of a scene, comprising:

• a) an image capture array comprising a plurality of image capturing elements;
• b) a plurality of spectral filter arrays that are interchangeably selectable to be optically aligned with the image capture array, and wherein each spectral filter array comprises:
• i) a plurality of spectral filter elements, wherein each spectral filter element is optically aligned with a corresponding image capture element to provide a wavelength channel, wherein each wavelength channel independently captures spectrally filtered image information;
• and
• ii) a light-emitting diode (LED) source on the array that illuminates the scene;