Surgery – Truss – Pad
Patent
1994-08-26
1996-05-28
Manuel, George
Surgery
Truss
Pad
A61B 800
Patent
active
055201830
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
This invention relates to apparatus and a method to measure subcutaneous fat depth, e.g. on live cattle.
The measurement of subcutaneous fat depth is important for the efficient management of beef cattle production. It is an indicator of the proportion of the animal's weight which is saleable meat. Also, the fat content of the meat is an important factor to the consumer and subcutaneous fat depth is an indictor of the fat content of meat cuts. Ultrasound gives the opportunity of measuring fat depth on individual animals quickly, non-invasively, causing no harm to the animal and no change to the animal products. However throughout this specification reference to an "animal" includes the carcass of a slaughtered animal.
Two-dimensional ultrasound imaging (so-called `B-mode imaging`) has been used for measuring both fat depth and rib-eye muscle area. B-mode imaging requires considerable skill in the human operator to identify the structures that appear in the ultrasound image, especially the hide-fat interface and the fat-muscle interface which may be confused with interfaces within the hide, fat and muscle. Automating the process would make the equipment easier to use. Also, B-mode imaging equipment involves processing electronics and a special ultrasound transducer (consisting of either a mechanical scanned transducer element or an array of electronically scanned transducer elements) which allows the ultrasound beam to scan over the area of interest. Such equipment is expensive, too large to be hand-held and usually mains-powered.
It is an object of the meant invention to provide a fat depth measuring apparatus and method which is relatively simple and effective in use.
It is a preferred object to provide fat depth measuring apparatus which can be relatively small and cheaper than a B-mode imager, and which requires a minimum of skill to operate.
According to the present invention there is provided a fat depth measuring apparatus for use in measuring in an animal the depth of a fat layer between hide and muscle, the apparatus including an ultrasonic generator for generating ultrasonic pulses and for transmitting the ultrasonic pulses into the animal through the hide towards the subcutaneous fat and muscle tissues an ultrasonic echo detector operative to generate echo signals indicative of ultrasonic pulses received by the detector after reflection from boundaries or discontinuities within the tissues of the animal, the apparatus being characterised by a variable gain amplifier operative to amplify the echo signals and to produce detector signals, gain control means operative to vary the gain of the amplifier to increase the probability of having two detector signals identifiable as arising from echoes of the ultrasonic pulses from a hide/fat boundary and a fat/muscle boundary of the animal, and a fat depth determining means receiving the detector signals and operative to identify the two required detector signals indicative of ultrasonic echo pulses arising from reflection from the hide/fat boundary and fat/muscle boundary respectively so as to thereby enable determination of the depth of the fat layer.
Preferably the fat depth determining means is operative to identify the required detector signals by testing whether the magnitude of the detector signals produced by reflected ultrasonic pulses exceed respective primary threshold levels. The apparatus preferably includes time gain compensation means for increasing the gain of the amplifier during the period of time following generation of each ultrasonic pulse whereby ultrasonic echo pulses reflected from deeper within the tissues of the animal are amplified by a progressively increasing amplification level, the two required detector signals identifiable as being caused by reflections from the hide/fat boundary and fat/muscle boundary respectively both exceeding a common primary threshold level before being identified as the required detector signals.
The fat depth determining means includes a threshold detector circuit for determining if detector signals e
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Comparison of Seven Ultrasound Techniques for In Vivo Estimation of Beef Carcass Composition (S. J. Parker et al) (1990).
The Use of Ultrasound to Predict the Carcass Composition of Live Cattle--A Review (G. Sim) (1983).
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Bradbury Ronald C.
Kunnemeyer Rainer
Lake Royden J. W.
Freiburger Thomas M.
Manuel George
Meat Research Corporation
University of New England
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