Dual energy – high accuracy

With increased focus on food safety and industry competitiveness, the X-ray technology has gradually become an integrated part in many meat productions. Since X-ray-based meat analysis was first introduced in the MeatMaster™ in 2003, it has proven to be a great way to optimize quality and earnings by efficiently managing the fat/lean percentage in the product while simultaneously checking for foreign objects. The X-ray technology ensures 100% scanning of all meat passing through the MeatMaster. 

So, what are the benefits of X-ray in meat and what makes the advanced technology used in the MeatMaster solution the golden standard in the meat industry? We have been speaking with our in-house x-ray specialist, Elisabeth Ulrikkeholm, and data scientist, Marie Top Mygind, about the X-ray technology and application used in the MeatMaster solution. 

Why has X-ray become such a valuable technology in the meat production industry?

“X-ray is mostly known as a technology for luggage scans in the security control or in the unfortunate circumstance of a broken leg, etc.,” Elisabeth explains, “But it has also become a reliable method to detect foreign objects as bone and metal as well as internal composition of meat in terms of fat and lean meat.    

“MeatMaster is the most accurate solution for inline fat analysis and is well recognized as the golden standard for fat analysis in the meat industry. It can be used both by manufactures of raw meat trimmings (cutting and boning plants) and by manufactures of processed meat products using trim as their raw material. It can also check the trim for foreign objects both when the trim is leaving the plant in boxes or in large combos as loose meat.,” Elisabeth explains before explaining the technology behind.  

“When it comes to measuring meat, the MeatMaster uses a technology called dual energy X-ray Absorptiometry (DEXA) that continuously scans through all the meat at production speed,” she says and continues: “The simple version is that meat is passed through the analyzer on a conveyor belt, exposed to X-rays and its absorption of those X-rays is detected and analyzed. The results (fat%, weight and eventually foreign objects) are displayed on a screen. The data can also be fed to a factory control system, for example, when building batches of trimmings with an automatic sorting system.   

“By getting a more precise determination of the fat%, meat producers avoid unnecessary lean meat give away. This gives the instrument a very short return of investment and even in small productions we see that the instrument has a payback time in less than 2-3 years,” Marie explains. “Detecting foreign objects, especially external foreign objects such as metal fragments, improves the food safety of the final products. Detecting the foreign objects in the early stages of the process line has the other benefit to reduce breakdown and downtime in the downstream production,” she explains. 

“The MeatMaster™ Flex relies on the same technology as the MeatMaster™ II, dual energy X-ray absorption. We have designed a special camera that can measure two X-ray energies simultaneously. Since we are measuring X-ray at two energies, we can determine two parameters, fat % and weight. We use the X-ray image information combined with advanced computer vision algorithms to detect foreign objects,” Elisabeth says. 

“We have optimized the X-ray energy to fit this new application with lower meat height. This gives us the possibility to improve the contrast between fat and lean meat and makes it easier for us to detect foreign objects. It has also made it possible for us to use less X-ray shielding and thereby made it possible to make a more compact solution that doesn’t require water cooling that is easier to integrate in the production line,” Elisabeth says and Marie elaborates: “To get the best estimation of fat %, Foodscan™ 2 has been used as reference analysis and the calibration methodology known from the previous MeatMaster used for building the fat model for MeatMaster Flex.” 

“Regarding foreign object detection, we’ve been working to improve the detection while keeping the number of false positives low. Increasing the sensitivity can result in increased number of false positives. A false positive is detecting something in the meat as a foreign object that is not. The consequence of a of false positives will be breaks in the meat production and labor put into removing the foreign object. Therefore, it is highly important to work with our customers to find the right balance between finding the smallest objects and limiting the risk of downtime in the production,” Marie explains. 

Each production has different scenarios, applications, and production needs. Our best advice would be to reach out for our local FOSS representative. They are experts in helping you finding the right solution and can help you setting up your instrument to fit your specific needs.