Air-Cell Shell Opening for Embryo-Safe Egg Sexing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for sexing incubated bird eggs often damage the embryo, reducing hatchability, as they involve opening the calcified shell outside the air cell region, causing harm to the inner membrane and embryo.
Innovation Solution
A method and apparatus that carefully create an opening in the calcified shell at the blunt end of the egg above the taut inner membrane, allowing access to the air cell without damaging the inner membrane, enabling non-invasive sex determination using optical, biological, or chemical methods, and subsequent closure to ensure embryo development.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If a hole is formed in the calcified shell outside the air cell region by opening both membranes, then sex determination can be performed, but the inner membrane is damaged and embryo development is hindered
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by creating the opening specifically in the air cell region rather than outside it, and by making a precise incision in the outer membrane above the inner membrane. This localized approach allows sex determination through the opening while preserving the integrity of the inner membrane and embryo, thus resolving the contradiction between measurement accuracy and developmental viability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses the air cell as an intermediary structure to facilitate sex determination. By creating an opening in the air cell region, the air cell itself becomes the medium through which optical methods can detect embryo sex characteristics without directly penetrating or damaging the embryo or inner membrane, thus enabling measurement while protecting the embryo.
2Measurement precision
If manual or visual sexing methods are used after hatching, then sex determination can be performed, but male chicks are killed immediately reducing ethical concerns and productivity
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by performing sex determination on the embryo while it is still developing in the egg, before hatching occurs. This allows sex identification to be completed in advance, enabling selective removal or retention decisions to be made before the chicks are born, thus avoiding the need to kill male chicks after hatching and improving ethical standing and productivity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces manual or visual sexing methods with optical detection methods through the opening in the calcified shell. This substitution allows non-contact, non-invasive sex determination without physical harm to the embryo, enabling ethical sex selection before hatching and improving both moral standing and chick survival rates.
3Reliability
If the opening is created above the taut inner membrane to access the air cell, then the inner membrane is preserved, but the opening must be precisely positioned
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by first locating and identifying the air cell position and geometry through optical methods before creating the opening. This preliminary detection allows the opening to be precisely positioned in the air cell region above the inner membrane, ensuring accuracy while preserving membrane integrity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses optical feedback to detect the position, shape, and size of the air cell in real-time during the opening creation process. This feedback mechanism allows dynamic adjustment and precise positioning of the opening within the air cell region, ensuring accurate placement while maintaining inner membrane integrity.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach preserves the inner membrane, maintaining the embryo's integrity and increasing hatchability rates compared to traditional methods, while allowing for accurate sex determination without harming the embryo.
Implementation Method 1
candling the incubated bird egg and detecting the light transmitted through the incubated egg for detecting the position and the geometry of the air cell
Implementation Method 2
creating an opening in the calcified shell at the blunt end of the incubated bird egg above the taut inner membrane to the air cell in order to obtain an access to the air cell
Implementation Method 3
determining the sex of such embryos using optical data collected by irradiating the embryo through the open calcified shell
Data Source
AI summary
According to the present invention, a method and an apparatus are provided for creating an opening in the calcified shell of an incubated bird egg containing an embryo, in the region of the blunt end of the incubated bird egg. Within the region of the blunt end there is an outer membrane and an inner membrane with an air cell located therebetween. The apparatus comprises a holder on which the incubated bird eggs are stored with their pointed ends facing downwards, wherein the embryo adjoins the inner membrane, a first detection device configured to detect the position and geometry of the air cell, and an opening device configured to create an opening in the calcified shell at the blunt end of the incubated bird egg above the taut inner membrane. Due to the open calcified shell, the sex of the embryo may be determined in a reliable way.