Uses of Hyperspectral and Multispectral Laser Induced Fluorescence Imaging Techniques for Food Safety Inspection

Spectral imaging including machine vision and multispectral imaging can provide a rapid, nondestructive means to assess agricultural commodities for their quality and safety for human consumption. These nondestructive techniques generally rely on reflectance measurements; the most commonly used spectral regions range through the visible (Vis) to the near infrared (NIR). Another optical sensing technique is based on fluorescence that is generally regarded as more sensitive optical sensing tools compared to reflectance techniques. Recently, we developed two imaging systems for food safety research; a laboratory-based hyperspectral imaging system capable of both reflectance and fluorescence measurements and a multispectral laser induced fluorescence imaging system. Because many contiguous spectral bands are acquired with each hyperspectral image pixel, the resulting data quantity makes uses of hyperspectral imaging spectrometer for on-line food safety inspection impractical. Instead, the spectral and spatial information is used to determine several optimal wavebands that can be implemented to a multispectral imaging system. We present a systematic method for using hyperspectral image data to identify few wavebands to be used in multispectral detection systems. Also presented is a two-band ratio as a multispectral fusion method along with automated detection for animal feces contamination on apples. The fluorescence imaging techniques demonstrated that even minute animal feces, not clearly visible to human eye, could be detected. Practical considerations for development of multispectral fluorescence imaging systems for on-line uses are also discussed.