A solution is proposed for imaging an object containing a luminescence substance. A corresponding method (500) is based on a refining loop. At each iteration of the refining loop, different spatial patterns are determined (516-518, 524;536-540, 546), partial illuminations corresponding to the spatial patterns are applied to the object (520,526;542,548), component images are acquired in response to the partial illuminations (522,528;544,550) and the component images are combined (530;552) into a combined image. A corresponding system (100) is also proposed. Moreover, a computer program (400) and a corresponding computer program product are proposed. A diagnostic method, a surgical method and a therapeutic method based on the same solution are further proposed.