Hyperspectral Imaging - Market Share Analysis, Industry Trends & Statistics, Growth Forecasts 2024 - 2029

The Hyperspectral Imaging Market size is estimated at USD 233.60 million in 2024, and is expected to reach USD 476 million by 2029, growing at a CAGR of 15.30% during the forecast period (2024-2029).

Hyperspectral imaging captures and processes an image at many wavelengths. A human eye sees the light in three visible spectrum bands (i.e., red, green, and blue). In contrast, hyperspectral imaging divides the spectrum into various bands, covering the visible and near-infrared ranges. In hyperspectral imaging, every image pixel carries spectral information, which is added as a third dimension of values to the two-dimensional spatial image, thereby generating a three-dimensional data cube referred to as hypercube data.

Key Highlights

• Hyperspectral imaging (HSI) is a robust technology that adds a new dimension to optical imaging. HSI has been employed for more than a decade now. However, until 2015, it was still moderately unknown compared to other imaging technologies, such as multispectral, infrared, and LiDAR. It is now gaining traction in the chemical analysis, agriculture, and military and defense sectors, in addition to the meteorology and metal sectors for which it was initially designed.
• The use of hyperspectral imaging systems (HIS) has also grown significantly in medical diagnostics. Existing systems do not allow for seamless integration into the surgical workflow, nor do they provide real-time instantaneous feedback crucial to support effective decision-making during surgery. Various researchers aim to develop a system that provides clinicians with an augmented vision for clear visualization of vital tissue information throughout the surgery.
• The increasing need for data accuracy and consistency in HSI applications, such as food and agriculture, defense, and weather, is driving the demand for hyperspectral imaging in the market. HSI uses robust analytical procedures critical for imaging technology in applications such as food and agriculture.
• Hyperspectral imaging is a broadly used technology for scientific and industrial purposes, but the high cost and large size of commercial setups have made them impractical for basic research. Due to their high cost, most small and medium-sized companies cannot implement HSI solutions for their business activities.
• With the outburst of COVID-19, the hyperspectral imaging market grew as this technology could have been a prominent tool for analyzing COVID-19 rashes. For example, hyperspectral imaging technology provider HinaLea Imaging (Emeryville, CA) joined a research program to explore the prognostic value of skin findings associated with COVID-19 infection utilizing the company's advanced hyperspectral imaging system.

Hyperspectral Imaging Market Trends

Healthcare Sector Expected to Witness Robust Market Growth

• The utilization of HSI technology in the healthcare sector is of utmost importance. Moreover, the increasing number of investments in the sector is expected to propel the growth of this domain. The healthcare sector is undergoing a large-scale digital transformation, and these technologies are expected to influence the domain significantly.
• For instance, in June 2023, Hypervision Surgical received EUR 6.5 million (USD 6.89 million) in seed funding to support its development of a surgical imaging and data analytics platform leveraging AI, ultra-fast snapshot hyperspectral imaging, and clinical edge computing. This technology makes the invisible visible, empowering surgeons to make confident decisions with enhanced precision, ultimately improving patient outcomes. The company stated that the funds would be used to attain regulatory clearance in the United States and Europe and expand collaborations with leading surgeons, renowned surgical centers, and strategic industry partners on both sides of the Atlantic to ensure a successful market launch and smooth integration into clinical practice.
• Moreover, handheld HS sensors are being rapidly implemented in healthcare operations for applications such as rapid non-invasive assessment of healthy or diseased tissue in ambulatory surgery centers and the wider use of miniaturized drones or UAVs for emergency rescue efforts, to name a few.
• Recently, hyperspectral imaging technology has been extensively incorporated for cancer cell detection since internal malignant tumors usually look similar to the healthy tissues around them. For instance, HSI is also being used to detect other illnesses and diseases, such as dental caries and altered mucosa of the human larynx. HSI in the 1,000-2,500 nm spectral range is being used for dental caries detection and identification in 12 extracted teeth with different degrees of the natural lesion.
• The increase in cancer cases in some regions is expected to drive the market. For instance, the American Cancer Society estimated that in 2022, there were a total of 236,740 new cases of lung and bronchus cancer in the United States. The highest number of these cases was estimated to be in the state of Florida.
• Product developments in the healthcare sector in the forecasted years are expected to drive the demand for hyperspectral imaging owing to its non-contact, non-ionizing, and label-free imaging modality.

North America is Expected to Hold Significant Market Share

• Increasing regional surveillance innovations are expected to drive the market's growth. The region is marked by the presence of countries, such as the United States, that have significant investments in surveillance.
• The surveillance is not limited to the military. It includes several law enforcement agencies that leverage advanced technology to monitor and track multiple individuals or vehicles during the day and at night and surveil the events in an area. Such new deployments are anticipated to increase the adoption of hyperspectral imaging systems and devices.
• Moreover, the United States has a significantly higher military expenditure than the rest of the world. In the budget proposed for the fiscal year 2024, released in March 2023, the Biden administration requested USD 842 billion for the Department of Defense (DoD), an increase of USD 26 billion over FY 2023 levels and USD 100 billion more than FY 2022.
• The US army had removed many thousand pounds of explosives from the battlefields in Afghanistan by using hyperspectral imagers to spot objects typically hidden from view, such as tanks draped in camouflage or emissions from an improvised bomb-making factory.
• Apart from the United States, Canada has also increased its military spending. Further, the shift in the focus of the United States from the Middle East and Afghanistan to more imminent threats from Asia-Pacific countries, especially China, created pressure on Canada's military funding as part of its membership in NORAD, NATO, and the so-called Five Eyes Intelligence-sharing Alliance.

Hyperspectral Imaging Industry Overview

The market for hyperspectral imaging is fragmented. A few major dominant players in this market are Applied Spectral, Imaging Inc., BaySpec Inc., Specim Spectral Imaging Ltd., Corning Incorporated, and Surface Optics Corporation. Partnerships and acquisitions, high investments in R&D, new product launches, etc., are the major growth strategies these companies adopt to sustain themselves in the market.

In April 2023, Photonics announced that it was planning to acquire the infrared camera firm Telops. The deal follows Photonis' recent acquisition of the Belgian short-wave infrared (SWIR) camera maker Xenics. The merged group is expected to provide "unique high-end imaging products" to business-to-business customers owing to wide-ranging expertise in component manufacturing, a broad geographical reach, and advanced technological capabilities.

In March 2023, Bengaluru-based space startup Pixxel announced it received a five-year contract for supplying technical hyperspectral imagery to the United States National Reconnaissance Organization (NRO). Pixxel will likely provide technical hyperspectral imagery (HSI) remote sensing capabilities through modeling simulation and data evaluation using its currently on-orbit pathfinder systems and future constellations.

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