There is demand for a new nondestructive cheese-structure analysis method for Swiss-type cheese. Such a method would provide the cheese-making industry the means to enhance process control and quality assurance. This paper presents a feasibility study on ultrasonic monitoring of the structural quality of Swiss cheese by using a single-transducer 2-MHz longitudinal mode pulse-echo setup. A volumetric ultrasonic image of a cheese sample featuring gas holes (cheese-eyes) and defects (cracks) in the scan area is presented. The image is compared with an optical reference image constructed from dissection images of the same sample. The results show that the ultrasonic method is capable of monitoring the gas-solid structure of the cheese during the ripening process. Moreover, the method can be used to detect and to characterize cheese-eyes and cracks in ripened cheese. Industrial application demands were taken into account when conducting the measurements.
A study on ultrasonic structural quality control of Swiss-type cheese using 1-2 MHz longitudinal pulse echo is presented. The aim was to prove the feasibility of detecting cheese-eye size/distribution and ripening induced defects. A normal C-scan can be used to assess the interior structure of the cheese non-destructively. Image analysis combined with ultrasonic modalities provides potential for quantitative defect characterization and thus allows structural quality assurance of cheese. Ultrasonic structural quality assurance, foreign body detection and ripening stage monitoring could be appended into a single inexpensive device with good potential to be implemented on-line.
We develop an ultrasonic method for nondestructive structural quality analysis of Swiss-cheese. A phased array solution has been implemented to allow fast measurements, dynamic focusing and to alleviate shadowing problems. Initial results exploiting this setup are presented. The results show the potential of the method. However, high attenuation causes frequency downshift, which decreases the resolution as a function of probing depth. Structural inhomogeneity decreases the SNR of acquired signals. These issues lead to a high dynamic range demand for the system. Sophisticated imaging methods should be utilized to fully exploit the beam focusing and deflection capabilities of phased arrays, while maintaining rapid measurements. Compared to our earlier work with single transducer setup, a ten times decrease in measurement time was obtained.
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