Systems and methods for hyperspectral medical imaging using real-time projection of spectral information

1. A method of displaying medical information about a subject, the subject having a plurality of regions of skin, the method comprising:

resolving light obtained from each region of the skin in the plurality of regions of the skin into a corresponding spectrum;

selecting portions of each spectrum, the selected portions including medical information about the corresponding region of the skin;

constructing a spectral image based on the selected portions of each spectrum;

obtaining other medical information about the subject at the plurality of regions of the skin from a data set, wherein the data set is selected from the group consisting of a thermal image of the plurality of regions of the skin, an x-ray image of the plurality of regions of the skin, a molecular resonance image of the plurality of regions of the skin, a nuclear magnetic resonance image of the plurality of regions of the skin, and a dynamic biomechanical measurement of the plurality of regions of the skin;

combining the spectral image with the other medical information about the subject to form a composite image; and

displaying the composite image.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the displaying the composite image comprises projecting the composite image onto the subject or on a video display.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the selecting the portions of each spectrum is based on at least one of: a spectral characteristic of a predetermined medical condition, a spectral characteristic of a predetermined physiological feature, and a spectral characteristic of a predetermined chemical.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the light includes at least one of an ultraviolet wavelength, a visible wavelength, an infrared wavelength, and a terahertz wavelength.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the combining the spectral image with the other medical information about the subject to form the composite image comprises:

converting any one of the spectral image and the data set to a topographical or contour map; and

coloring the topographical or contour map based on the other of the spectral image and the data set, thereby forming the composite image.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the combining the spectral image with the other medical information about the subject to form the composite image is performed using a data fusion method selected from the group consisting of band overlay, high-pass filtering, intensity-hue saturation transformation, discrete wavelet transform, and principal component analysis.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the data set is obtained by an independent source selected from the group consisting of x-ray imaging, molecular resonance imaging, nuclear magnetic resonance imaging, and dynamic biomechanical skin measurement probe.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the spectral image and the data set are obtained substantially concurrently, or sequentially.

9. A system for displaying medical information about a subject, the subject having a plurality of regions of skin, the system comprising:

a spectrometer for resolving light obtained from each region of the skin in the plurality of regions of the skin into a corresponding spectrum;

a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing one or more computer programs executable by a computer for:

selecting portions of each spectrum, the selected portions including medical information about the corresponding region of the skin;

constructing a spectral image based on the selected portions of each spectrum;

obtaining other medical information about the subject at the plurality of regions of the skin from a data set, wherein the data set is selected from the group consisting of a thermal image of the plurality of regions of the skin, an x-ray image of the plurality of regions of the skin, a molecular resonance image of the plurality of regions of the skin, a nuclear magnetic resonance image of the plurality of regions of the skin, and a dynamic biomechanical measurement of the plurality of regions of the skin; and

combining the spectral image with the other medical information about the subject to form a composite image; and

a display for displaying the composite image.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the display comprises a projector for projecting the composite image onto the subject or on a video display.

11. The system of claim 9 , wherein the selecting the portions of each spectrum is based on at least one of: a spectral characteristic of a predetermined medical condition, a spectral characteristic of a predetermined physiological feature, and a spectral characteristic of a predetermined chemical.

12. The system of claim 9 , further comprising a light source for irradiating the subject with the light.

13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the light includes at least one of an ultraviolet wavelength, a visible wavelength, an infrared wavelength, and a terahertz wavelength.

14. The system of claim 9 , wherein the combining the spectral image with the other medical information about the subject to form the composite image comprises:

converting any one of the spectral image and the data set to a topographical or contour map; and

coloring the topographical or contour map based on the other of the spectral image and the data set, thereby forming the composite image.

15. The system of claim 9 , wherein the combining the spectral image with the other medical information about the subject to form the composite image is performed using a data fusion method selected from the group consisting of band overlay, high-pass filtering, intensity-hue saturation transformation, discrete wavelet transform, and principal component analysis.

16. The system of claim 9 , wherein the data set is obtained by an independent source selected from the group consisting of x-ray imaging, molecular resonance imaging, nuclear magnetic resonance imaging, and dynamic biomechanical skin measurement probe.

17. The system of claim 16 , wherein the spectral image and the data set are obtained substantially concurrently, or sequentially.

18. A computer-readable medium storing one or more computer programs executable by a computer for displaying medical information about a subject, the subject having a plurality of regions of skin, the one or more computer programs collectively encoding computer executable instructions for performing the method comprising:

resolving light obtained from each region of the skin in the plurality of regions of the skin into a corresponding spectrum;

selecting portions of each spectrum, the selected portions including medical information about the corresponding region of the skin;

constructing a spectral image based on the selected portions of each spectrum;

obtaining other medical information about the subject at the plurality of regions of the skin from a data set, wherein the data set is selected from the group consisting of a thermal image of the plurality of regions of the skin, an x-ray image of the plurality of regions of the skin, a molecular resonance image of the plurality of regions of the skin, a nuclear magnetic resonance image of the plurality of regions of the skin, and a dynamic biomechanical measurement of the plurality of regions of the skin;

combining the spectral image with the other medical information about the subject to form a composite image; and

displaying the composite image.

19. The computer-readable medium of claim 18 , wherein the displaying the composite image comprises projecting the composite image onto the subject or on a video display.

20. The computer-readable medium of claim 18 , wherein the selecting the portions of each spectrum comprises selecting the portions of each spectrum based on at least one of: a spectral characteristic of a predetermined medical condition, a spectral characteristic of a predetermined physiological feature, and a spectral characteristic of a predetermined chemical.

21. The computer-readable medium of claim 18 , wherein the combining the spectral image with the other medical information about the subject to form the composite image comprises:

converting any one of the spectral image and the data set to a topographical or contour map; and

coloring the topographical or contour map based on the other of the spectral image and the data set, thereby forming the composite image.

22. The computer-readable medium of claim 18 , wherein the combining the spectral image with the other medical information about the subject to form the composite image is performed using a data fusion method selected from the group consisting of band overlay, high-pass filtering, intensity-hue saturation transformation, discrete wavelet transform, and principal component analysis.

23. The computer-readable medium of claim 18 , wherein the data set is obtained by an independent source selected from the group consisting of x-ray imaging, molecular resonance imaging, nuclear magnetic resonance imaging, and dynamic biomechanical skin measurement probe.

24. The computer-readable medium of claim 23 , wherein the spectral image and the data set are obtained substantially concurrently, or sequentially.