SpeCamX: mobile app that turns unmodified smartphones into multispectral imagers

Abstract

We present the development of SpeCamX, a mobile application that enables an unmodified smartphone into a multispectral imager. Multispectral imaging provides detailed spectral information about objects or scenes, but its accessibility has been limited due to its specialized requirements for the device. SpeCamX overcomes this limitation by utilizing the RGB photographs captured by smartphones and converting them into multispectral images spanning a range of 420 to 680 nm without a need for internal modifications or external attachments. The app also includes plugin functions for extracting medical information from the resulting multispectral data cube. In a clinical study, SpeCamX was used to implement an augmented smartphone bilirubinometer, predicting blood bilirubin levels (BBL) with superior performance in accuracy, efficiency and stability compared to default smartphone cameras. This innovative technology democratizes multispectral imaging, making it accessible to a wider audience and opening new possibilities for both medical and non-medical applications.