This research project represents the first step toward developing highly-multiplexed biological assays using the near-infrared photoluminescence of single-walled carbon nanotubes and a near-infrared hyperspectral imaging system. First, a visible hyperspectral imaging system was modified to acquire luminescence from near-infrared emitting nanoparticles. The performance of the near-infrared system was evaluated by scanning calibrated neon and xenon spectral tubes and through imaging of resolution targets and breast cancer cells against a background of lead sulfide quantum dots. Next, a protocol for making single-walled carbon nanotube dispersions using sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonate was optimized to produce individually-dispersed nanotube samples for near-infrared photoluminescence spectroscopy studies. Using an absorption spectroscopy quality metric, the improvement observed in the optimized nanotube dispersions was 2-fold. These samples were used to demonstrate that the near-infrared hyperspectral system possessed sufficient sensitivity to detect photoluminescence from dispersed nanotube samples. Photoluminescence spectra were also acquired from single-walled carbon nanotube samples prepared using a biocompatible dispersant in anticipation of future studies involving living mammalian cells.