Multispectral imaging for industrial machine vision systems and medical applications
Just as machine vision systems have evolved from traditional monochrome cameras to many systems that now utilise full colour imaging information, there has also been an evolution from systems that only captured broadband images in the visible spectrum, to those that can utilise targeted spectral bands in both visible and non-visible spectral regions to perform more sophisticated inspection and analysis.
The colour output of the cameras used in the machine vision industry today is largely based on Bayer-pattern or trilinear sensor technology. But imaging is moving well beyond conventional colour where standard RGB is not enough to carry out inspection tasks. Some applications demand unconventional RGB wavelength bands while others demand a combination of visible and non-visible wavelengths. Others require exclusively non-visible wavelengths such as UV, NIR or SWIR, with no wavebands in the visible spectrum.
Complex metrology and imaging applications are beginning to demand higher numbers of spectral channels or possibilities to select application-specific spectral filtering at high inspection throughputs. With the traditional machine vision industry merging with intricate measurement technologies, consistent, reliable, high-fidelity colour and multispectral imaging are playing key roles in industrial quality control.
Multispectral cameras capture image data at specific frequencies across the electromagnetic spectrum. The wavelengths may be separated by filters or using instruments which are sensitive to specific wavelengths, including light from frequencies beyond our visible sight, such as infrared. Spectral imaging also allows for extraction of additional information which the human eye fails to capture.
Download the paper to learn more about multispectral imaging solutions and how various camera capabilities can be utilised to meet your application requirements.
