Patent ID: 7787121

Claim:
An imaging apparatus comprising: a light source unit that can selectively output white light and light in a wavelength band that is different from that of the white light to an observation target; an imaging unit that includes an imaging device for imaging the observation target that is illuminated with the light output from the light source unit, the imaging device having first pixels and second pixels, and the imaging unit further including first spectral devices that make only first light components in a visible light region and fourth light components in a near-infrared region enter the first pixels of the imaging device and second spectral devices that make only second light components in the visible light region and fifth light components in the near-infrared region enter the second pixels of the imaging device, wherein the imaging unit selectively obtains an image of the observation target for each of the first light components, the second light components and third light components, which are three kinds of light components in different wavelength ranges from each other in the visible light region, and an image of the observation target for each of at least the fourth light components and the fifth light components, which are at least two kinds of light components in different wavelength ranges from each other in the near-infrared region; and a spectral image formation circuit that generates a spectral image signal representing a spectral image that has a specified wavelength by performing an operation using an image signal based on an output from the imaging unit and predetermined matrix data.