Masking approach for imaging multi-peak fluorophores by an imaging system

An imaging system comprising:

• a visible light sensor;
• a near-infrared (NIR) sensor;
• and
• a controller coupled to the visible light sensor and the NIR sensor, the controller comprising a processor configured to execute a process and a memory configured to store the process, the process when executed configured to:
• capture, by the visible light sensor, a visible light image of a subject in which a fluorophore is present, wherein the fluorophore has fluorescence emissions in the visible spectrum and in the near-infrared (NIR) spectrum;
• capture, by the NIR sensor, an NIR image of the subject in which the fluorophore is present;
• form a combined image of the visible light image and the NIR image, in part by masking pixels of the visible light image with pixels of the NIR image that are associated with the fluorescence emission of the fluorophore in the NIR spectrum;
• and
• provide the combined image to an electronic display for display.

A tangible, non-transitory, computer-readable medium storing program instructions that cause an imaging system to execute a process comprising:

• capturing, by a visible light sensor of the imaging system, a visible light image of a subject in which a fluorophore is present, wherein the fluorophore has fluorescence emissions in the visible spectrum and in the near-infrared (NIR) spectrum;
• capturing, by an NIR sensor of the imaging system, an NIR image of the subject in which the fluorophore is present;
• forming, by the imaging system, a combined image of the visible light image and the NIR image, in part by masking pixels of the visible light image with pixels of the NIR image that are associated with the fluorescence emission of the fluorophore in the NIR spectrum;
• and
• providing, by the imaging system, the combined image to an electronic display for display.