METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR DETERMINING THE SEX OF POULTRY EMBRYONS IN EGGS USING TRANSMISSION SPECTROSCOPY WITH COMPENSATION FOR SCATTERING EFFECTS OF THE EGG SHELL

Abstract

This useful solution refers to a method and system for determining the sex of poultry embryos while the egg is still intact. Light in the visible-near-infrared region is linearly polarized and shone through the egg in a transmission configuration, where two polarizers have polarization axes perpendicular to each other to attenuate the mirror-like reflection component from the shell surface. The transmission spectrum is fed into a spectral reconstruction model trained using pairs of data including the intact shell-through spectrum and the open-shell reference spectrum of the same egg, to create a reconstructed spectrum that compensates for the scattering effect of the eggshell. Spectral characteristics are classified and combined with morphological and weight data to produce results indicating male or female embryos along with confidence values. The method allows for non-invasive measurement during the early incubation period.

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