Combined optical coherence tomography and spectral technique for detection of changes in eggshells caused by Mycoplasma synoviae

Mycoplasma synoviae (MS) infection in poultry is a serious global epidemiological and economic problem. Usually, MS pathogen is responsible for respiratory disease, infectious synovitis and the eggshell apex abnormalities (EAA). The EAA may lead to an increase in the incidence of cracks and breaks of eggshells which often are reason of microbial infections and higher water vapor loss during the entire incubation process. All these problems can cause higher embryonic mortality and lead to significant economic losses. Most of eggs with EEA posses characteristic deformation of an eggshell, however, a number of those eggs infected by MS may be omitted during visual inspection. To prevent such situation a combined Full-Field OCT (FF OCT) and spectral technique for detection of MS infected pieces is proposed. After a numerical processing from a recorded transmittance spectra of a eggshell a few parameters are calculated. Those parameters describe the shape of the transmittance spectrum understood for example as the directional coefficient of a line matched to a graph, or maximum amplitudes of changes in a specified range of wavelengths. Analyses of those parameters allow shells assignment into one of two groups - eggs coming from healthy and MS infected poultry. Data obtained from FF OCT allow more precise evaluation of MS influence on the eggshell, for example changes in the micropores, which are responsible for proper embryo - environment gas exchange [1]. Authors present a new approach to food quality testing which in near future may be applied to reduce the egg production losses caused by MS in the commercial poultry industry.