13TSB_AgriFood: Automated screening for pathologies at abattoir through computer vision- based inspection of pig carcasses

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The aim of the proposed project is to develop an automated system, based on visual image analysis that detects a number of public health hazards on pig carcasses through carcass inspection at abattoir, and to screen pig carcasses at slaughter for conditions indicative of subclinical diseases. The technical objectives of the proposal are to: (1) develop and deploy multi-camera recording infrastructure that enables capture of images of carcasses; (2) acquire image data sets and have experts annotate pathologies in these images; (3) develop and refine algorithms/software that can automatically recognise pathologies; (4) validate these algorithms on large scale datasets, and disseminate results to relevant users. These aims align with the TSB competition aim of 'Data capture and integration through the value chain'. The automated capture of data associated with subclinical diseases will be fed to pig producers through the activities of BPEX Pig Health Scheme; producers will then be able to make decisions about improving the health of their herd. As such, the proposal is also directly aligned to the competition aim of 'Management decision making'.

Impact on pork industry
Meat inspection is a significant cost to the industry, and regardless of the size of the abattoir these costs are still incurred.
The introduction of the proposed automated system into the abattoir inspection systems will reduce such costs.
Outside the participating Industry, the primary beneficiaries of this research will be the wider food production industry that
does not participate in the project: the broader Pig Sector, the Government and Government Agencies, the Academic
community and the Wider Public who will benefit as a consequence of successful implementation.
Industry partners in the consortium will be in the unique position of exploiting the outcomes of the project for the benefit of
their businesses. This will confer major competitive advantages, especially as outcomes will be applicable to the wider pig
sector, and potentially beyond. In the first instance Tulip's abattoir in Spalding, which will serve as development facility, will
benefit from the automated analysis system. Subsequently the system can be rolled out to all Tulip facilities, which will
result in automatic screening of effectively ~30% of the UK's pig kill. With moderate site-specific modifications the proposed
technology can be deployed in most abattoirs (world-wide). The system could be potentially installed in all pig abattoirs in
the UK and the European Union, provided that it obtains approval from the (E)FSA.
Wider governmental and societal impact
BPEX involvement in the project will ensure potential adoption of the product by all abattoirs that slaughter pigs in the UK.
The current mechanisms of BPHS for disseminating information on the incidence of pathologies to pig producers will
ensure that the generated information will reach the majority of UK pig producers.
In general the outcomes of the project will be of particular relevance to policy makers, especially to those that aim to ensure
production of safe and high quality meat products. In general, there is increased public interest in the safety of livestock
products, including authentication and incidence of zoonotic diseases. Processors and retailers are the conduit for such
concerns. Part of the project outcomes will be the production of safer pork products, which is of interest to retailers and
public alike. FSA publishes reports about the incidence of such pathologies on its websites and retailers are very keen to
disseminate information about the safety of their products.
Academic Impact
Academic partners will benefit from the application of their skills to pig production systems, and the challenges this brings,
and the consequent enhancement of their on-going research. Potentially the algorithms developed for the detection of
pathologies in pig carcasses could be extended to detect pathologies in other livestock carcasses. This will significantly
expand the scope of the research of the academic partners. The application of the developed algorithms to pig pathologies
will be subject to communication at the latter stages of the project.
Exploitation and Application
Project outcomes are expected to confer competitive advantages on the industry partners involved. Information generated
on the incidence of specific pathologies will directly benefit Tulip-associated pig producers and eventually all BPHS
associated pig producers. The application of the automated system will increase the number of carcasses inspected and
thus enhance the value of the BPHS. Hellenic Systems would be expected to market the automated recording systems to
UK abattoirs, including those associated with Tulip.
Clearly the impact of the product developed by the project would be enormous if the system is adopted by (European) FSA.
The impact activities will be primarily undertaken by BPEX, Tulip and the academic Institutions; all of them have
considerable relevant KT experience and successes as outlined above.