Speckle removal in a pulsed hyperspectral, fluorescence, and laser mapping imaging system

1. A system comprising:

an image sensor comprising a pixel array that detects electromagnetic radiation;

an emitter that cycles a plurality of electromagnetic sources, wherein the plurality of electromagnetic sources comprises:

a visible source that emits a visible wavelength of electromagnetic radiation; and

one or more spectral sources tuned to emit one or more spectral wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation selected to elicit a spectral response from a tissue; and

a controller in electronic communication with the image sensor and the emitter, wherein the controller synchronizes operations of the image sensor and operations of the emitter;

wherein the image sensor senses reflected electromagnetic radiation emitted by the emitter and outputs data, such that:

the image sensor generates a visible exposure frame in response to detecting the visible wavelength of electromagnetic radiation, and

the image sensor generates a plurality of spectral exposure frames comprising spectral response data based on a plurality of spectral responses in response to detecting pulses of the one or more spectral wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation, and

wherein the spectral exposure frame does not comprise observable speckle pattern;

wherein the controller processes one or more of the plurality of spectral exposure frames to generate a spectral datastore comprising the spectral response data;

wherein the controller provides the spectral datastore to a corresponding system that determines a classification of a malady, a biological process, or a type of tissue based on the spectral datastore;

wherein the system receives the classification from the corresponding system.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more spectral sources comprises a plurality of independently actuatable spectral sources that are tuned to emit a plurality of different spectral wavelengths within one or more wavebands of electromagnetic radiation selected for spectral imaging of tissue.

3. The system of claim 2 , wherein the emitter separately cycles the plurality of independently actuatable spectral sources based on user input for spectral visualization of a scene.

4. The system of claim 2 , wherein the plurality of independently actuatable spectral sources comprises one or more of:

a first spectral source tuned to emit electromagnetic radiation within a waveband from about 900 nm to about 1000 nm;

a second spectral source tuned to emit electromagnetic radiation within a waveband from about 513 nm to about 545 nm; or

a third spectral source tuned to emit electromagnetic radiation within a waveband from about 545 nm to about 565 nm.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the spectral source comprises a laser; and

wherein the spectral source vibrates at a sufficient rate to reduce coherency such that the spectral frame does not comprise the observable speckle pattern.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the controller synchronizes operations of the image sensor and the emitter to generate a video output comprising color image data and spectral image data, and wherein the controller selects one or more spectral wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation for spectral imaging based on user input.

7. The system of claim 6 , wherein the controller instructs the emitter to cycle one or more of the plurality of electromagnetic sources during at least a portion of each blanking period of the image sensor; and

wherein the controller instructs the emitter to discontinue any emission of electromagnetic radiation during at least a portion of each readout period of the image sensor.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the image sensor reads out data for generating a plurality of exposure frames, and wherein imaging data for each of the plurality of exposure frames is classified based on a pulsing cycle of the emitter.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein the controller classifies the imaging data for each of the plurality of exposure frames such that:

a first frame sensed by the pixel array in response to the emitter pulsing a white light is classified as comprising color imaging data; and

a second frame sensed by the pixel array in response to the emitter cycling the spectral source is classified as comprising spectral imaging data.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the pixel array comprises a color filter array such that the first frame comprises red, green, and blue imaging data.

11. The system of claim 1 , wherein the visible source is a white light source.

12. The system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more spectral wavelengths can pass through one or more layers of tissue in a foreground of a scene.

13. The system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more spectral wavelengths elicits the spectral response from one or more of nervous tissue, muscle tissue, or cancerous tissue.

14. The system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more spectral wavelengths elicits the spectral response from blood cells.

15. The system of claim 1 , wherein the controller that instructs the emitter to cycle the plurality of electromagnetic sources according to a variable pulse cycle, wherein the variable pulse cycle comprises a white light emission and one or more different spectral emissions.

16. The system of claim 15 , wherein a spectral waveband for each of the one or more different spectral emissions is adjustable in real-time based on user input.

17. The system of claim 16 , wherein the one or more different spectral emissions comprises a first spectral emission comprising electromagnetic radiation within a waveband from about 900 nm to about 1000 nm and further comprises one or more of:

a second spectral emission comprising electromagnetic radiation within a waveband from about 513 nm to about 545 nm; or

a third spectral emission comprising electromagnetic radiation within a waveband from about 545 nm to about 565 nm.

18. The system of claim 1 , wherein the emitter further comprises a fluorescence source tuned to emit a fluorescence excitation wavelength of electromagnetic radiation.

19. The system of claim 18 , wherein the fluorescence source comprises one or more of:

a first fluorescence source that pulses electromagnetic radiation within a waveband from about 770 nm to about 795 nm; and

a second fluorescence source that pulses electromagnetic radiation within a waveband from about 790 nm to about 815 nm.

20. The system of claim 1 , wherein the emitter further comprises a mapping source tuned to emit electromagnetic radiation for generating mapping data for topographical imaging.