The properties of single-walled carbon nanotubes make them well-suited for potential uses in imaging and sensing applications. Their environmentally-sensitive, photostable emission does not exhibit the blinking phenomenon observed with other nanostructures such as quantum dots, and they emit in the near-infrared where tissue autofluorescence is low, making them ideal for imaging in tissue or cells. Due to the large number of optically distinct emitters, nanotube-based probes could potentially be developed for extensive multiplexed imaging applications. Although single-walled carbon nanotubes are synthesized as a heterogeneous mixture of many different chiralities, aqueous two-phase extraction methods allow enrichment of single nanotube chiralities to the purities needed for imaging applications. We developed hyperspectral microscopy instrumentation and techniques to distinguish between 17 optically distinct nanotube chiralities, each with a narrow and distinguishable near-infrared emission band. We are also developing polymeric materials to facilitate probe development. Polycarbodiimides are helical polymers which allow for highly modular derivitization. Polycarbodiimides can non-covalently encapsulate carbon nanotubes to enable optical modulation and diverse surface functionalization. We will discuss how polycarbodiimide-nanotube complexes can be developed for near-infrared imaging applications.