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Title: DEVELOPMENT OF ONLINE LINE-SCAN IMAGING SYSTEM FOR CHICKEN INSPECTION AND DIFFERENTIATION

Author
item YANG, CHUN-CHIEH - VIS SCI, UNIV OF KY
item Chan, Diane
item Chao, Kuanglin - Kevin Chao
item Chen, Yud
item Kim, Moon

Submitted to: Proceedings of SPIE
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/4/2006
Publication Date: 11/12/2006
Citation: Yang, C., Chan, D.E., Chao, K., Chen, Y.R., Kim, M.S. 2006. Development of online line-scan imaging system for chicken inspection and differentiation. Proceedings of SPIE. 6381:Y1-Y10.

Interpretive Summary: To ensure food safety and prevent food safety hazards in the inspection process for poultry, egg, and meat products, the Food Safety and Inspection Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture has implemented the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) program throughout the country and has also been testing the HACCP-based Inspection Models Project (HIMP). This project includes a zero tolerance standard for chickens with infectious condition such as septicemia and toxemia, which must be removed from the processing line. In this study, a hyperspectral line-scan imaging system with light-emitting-diode (LED) line-light illumination was used during two 4-day periods to acquire online chicken images at a commercial chicken processing line. In the first period, 543 wholesome and 66 systemically diseased chickens were imaged; in the second period, 457 wholesome and 37 systemically diseased chickens were imaged with an additional 80 images of USDA-condemned systemically diseased chickens collected “off-shift” during regular breaks in work shift of the chicken processing plant. The chicken carcasses were hung on shackles on an eviscerating line moving at a speed of 70 carcasses per minute. A method was created to locate the Region of Interest on the breast area of the chicken images. Spectra for pixels within the Region of Interest for chickens imaged during the first collection period were analyzed, and among the 55 available channels within the 389 nm and 753 nm region, four key wavelengths to be used for multispectral line-scan inspection of wholesome and systemically diseased chickens were identified: 468 nm, 501 nm, 582 nm, and 629 nm. This line-scan imaging system enabling the implementation of multispectral inspection using the key wavelengths determined in this study shows promise for high-speed poultry carcasses inspection in poultry slaughter plants.

Technical Abstract: An online line-scan imaging system was developed for differentiation of wholesome and systemically diseased chickens. The hyperspectral imaging system used in this research can be directly converted to multispectral operation and would provide the ideal implementation of essential features for data-efficient high-speed multispectral classification algorithms. The imaging system consisted of an electron-multiplying charge-coupled-device (EMCCD) camera and an imaging spectrograph for line-scan images. The system scanned the surfaces of chicken carcasses on an eviscerating line at a poultry processing plant in December 2005. A method was created to recognize birds entering and exiting the field of view, and to locate a Region of Interest on the chicken images from which useful spectra were extracted for analysis. From analysis of the difference spectra between wholesome and systemically diseased chickens, four wavelengths of 468 nm, 501 nm, 582 nm and 629 nm were selected as key wavelengths for differentiation. The method of locating the Region of Interest will also have practical application in multispectral operation of the line-scan imaging system for online chicken inspection. This line-scan imaging system makes possible the implementation of multispectral inspection using the key wavelengths determined in this study with minimal software adaptations and without the need for cross-system calibration.