Miniature Hyperspectral Imaging System Navy SBIR FY2005.1 Sol No.: Navy SBIR FY2005.1 Topic No.: N05-071 Topic Title: Miniature Hyperspectral Imaging System Proposal No.: N051-071-0697 Firm: solid state scientific corporation 27-2 Wright Road Hollis, New Hampshire 03049 Contact: Richard Nelson Phone: (603) 598-1194 Web Site: solidstatescientific.com Abstract: We propose to design and model a unique hyperspectral imaging sensor that will be capable of simultaneously imaging 121 color bands. The miniature spectral imager will operate in the visible/NIR band and capture one 168'168'121 spectral data cube during each integration time. The new sensor will have no moving parts, occupy a small physical form factor, and run on a laptop computer. The design and development of this sensor represents a unique opportunity in hyperspectral sensing and imaging. This effort will benefit the development of algorithms for exploiting hyperspectral image processing techniques for static scenes and temporally evolving spectral signatures. This spectral imager will sample the spectral data cube at rates up to 8 hyperspectral cubes per second with minimal computational requirements. The sensor concept is scalable to larger or smaller imaging formats, and the spectral resolution can be adjusted to increase the spatial sampling for specific applications. In addition, the sensor can be configured so that the spectral resolution varies independently of the sampling, allowing the sensitivity of the sensor to be optimized around phenomenologically important spectral regions. Benefits: The proposed sensor combines staring imaging technology with recent developments in micro-lens technology from telecommunications to advance the state of the art in hyperspectral imaging. The ability of the new sensor concept to simply and rapidly acquire hyperspectral data cubes should provide an unprecedented opportunity to investigate spectral processing algorithms such as those used for dynamic event classification based on temporal spectral signatures, countering CC&D, and evaluating surfaces. In addition, the small physical size of the sensor will demonstrate the possibility of portable hyperspectral imaging suitable for airborne platforms. Potential applications for defense purposes include buried mine detection, battlefield characterization, real-time bomb damage assessment, target tracking, and missile threat warning. In addition, we anticipate possible applications in medical diagnostics and medical imaging. Return