Depth-resolved image mapping spectrometer (IMS) with structured illumination.

We present a depth-resolved Image Mapping Spectrometer (IMS) which is capable of acquiring 4D (x, y, z, λ) datacubes. Optical sectioning is implemented by structured illumination. The device's spectral imaging performance is demonstrated in a multispectral microsphere and mouse kidney tissue fluorescence imaging experiment. We also compare quantitatively the depth-resolved IMS with a hyperspectral confocal microscope (HCM) in a standard fluorescent bead imaging experiment. The comparison results show that despite the use of a light source with four orders of magnitude lower intensity in the IMS than that in the HCM, the image signal-to-noise ratio acquired by the IMS is 2.6 times higher than that achieved by the equivalent confocal approach.