title: Utilizing optical coherence tomography in the nondestructive and noncontact measurement of egg shell thickness.
abstract: The goal of this study was to measure the thickness of egg shells without any contact and by utilizing a nondestructive method that sends infrared light beam on the egg. We obtain measurement resolutions on the order of 7 μm up to a penetration depth of 1.7 mm from the actual surface of the egg shell. The measurement results we obtained show that optical coherence tomography can be used to accurately determine the egg shell thickness. Scanning the light beam over the surface allows for measuring the egg profile and monitoring the variations of shell thickness. Since this information gives a quantitative value for the uniformity of the egg shell structure, we anticipate that optical coherence tomography may be used in the quantitative evaluation of egg quality in in-line automated inspection systems.
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Dokuz Eylül University, Tınaztepe Campus, 35160 Izmir, Turkey.
authors.forename: Metin
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-0699-8364
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sabuncu
authors.affiliation: Department of Computer Engineering, Dokuz Eylül University, Tınaztepe Campus, 35160 Izmir, Turkey.
authors.forename: Mete
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-5635-6335
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Akdoğan
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002645:Chickens; D004528:Egg Shell / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*