SBIR-STTR Award

We propose to develop an on-line x-ray system for detecting foreign material contamination in raw, in-process and packaged food items. The proposed system would detect very small pieces of metal, glass, bone, rock, plastic and other kinds of foreign material contamination in the food products at factory speed. The proposer has already proven the initial feasibility of such a concept. The present Concept Prototype System operating in our laboratory uses off-line computer convolution and analysis of the x-ray data. During phase I, we propose to extend the capability of our Concept Prototype System by using four detector system and experiment with it to determine the performance of such a system for various types of food and foreign materials. The phase I experiments will also determine the optimum subsystem parameters for the final production system design. We propose to experiment with representative food materials like lunch meat packages, packages of nuts, ground meat, cereal and flour packages, and other types of food items.

Anticipated Results:
The proposed research would lead to a low cost, non-contact, high speed and reliable means to detect and reject foreign materials in food items. The metal detectors presently used by the food industry detect only metal pieces, and not glass, rocks, bones and other types of foreign materials. The sensitivity of these metal detectors is poorer than the proposed x-ray system. The proposed system would be suitable for many types of food products. It would be suitable for raw food, in-process food, and packaged food items.

This Phase II proposal is a continuation of the research carried out during the Phase I contract. In Phase I, we had designed and constructed a 64 channel detector array and a conveyor belt system to test the concept. The phase I work clearly proves that a well designed x-ray scanning system using low noise solid state detector array and low intensity x-ray system can automatically detect as small as 0.010" diameter steel, 0.050" glass, 0.050" bone and 0.040" rocks in many food items. During the phase II, we propose to completely design and later manufacture a prototype system optimized for products like lunch meat and bacon packages. The phase II prototype will be usable in a production environment. The prototype system design will include x-ray generation system, detector array, conveyor belt, data digitzation and acquisition system, on-line analysis software and automatic rejection software. We propose to evaluate this Phase II prototype system first in our laboratory and later at a suitable Beta site either at a food processing industry or an university. The phase II evaluation and demonstration at the Beta site will lead to an eventual design of a commercial system.

Anticipated Results:
The proposed research would lead to a commercial design of a low cost, non-contact, high speed and reliable system to detect and reject foreign materials in food items. At present, mostly metal detectors are used by the food industry which detect only metal objects and not non-metal foreign materials. Even for metals, the sensitivity of these metal detectors is poorer than the proposed x-ray system. The proposed system would be suitable for most types of food products.