Apparatus for analysis of eggs
AssigneeViscon Group Holding B.V.
InventorsWouter Sebastiaan Bruins, Wil Marijn Stutterheim
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The present invention relates to a process for the non-destructive determination of gender, developmental stage and/or viability of an avian embryo in an egg, comprising (a) detecting at least a first developmental marker compound selected from sugars and/or amino acids, precursors and metabolites thereof in an egg at a time period of from the beginning of the incubation of the egg until the hatching; (b) measuring the amount of the at least first detected developmental marker compound, and (c) comparing the amount to a base line established for male and female, developmental stage of the embryo, and/or alive and deceased or non-developed embryo, to determine whether the embryo is viable, male and/or female, and/or the developmental stage of the embryo.
Claims15
A system comprising
- (a) a quantitative analytic apparatus selected from the group consisting of:
- a magnetic resonance spectrometer, a spectral resonance spectrometer, a GC coupled with a suitable detector, an HPLC coupled with a suitable detector, a fluorescence spectrometer, and an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay system;
- for measuring the level of at least a first developmental marker compound selected from sugars and/or amino acids, precursors and metabolites thereof in an egg;
- (b) a microprocessor configured to receive data from the quantitative analytic apparatus and programmed to perform multivariate statistical analysis of the level of the at least a first developmental marker to compare the amount to a base line established for male and female, developmental stage of the embryo, and/or alive and deceased or non-developed embryo, to determine whether the embryo is viable, male and/or female, and/or the developmental stage of the embryo and identify viable female and viable male eggs;
- and
- (c) an incubator for subjecting the viable female and/or viable male eggs to an incubation and hatching process to form a predominantly female or male chick population, and/or for subjecting the viable egg selections to an incubation and hatching process in line with the expected hatching date, to form a chick population of predominantly the same developmental stage.
An apparatus for identifying one or more characteristics of an egg at any time during the embryonic development period of an avian embryo in an egg, comprising
- (a) a means for detecting at least a first developmental marker compound selected from sugars and/or amino acids, precursors and metabolites thereof in an egg at a time period of from the beginning of the incubation of the egg until the hatching;
- (b) a means for measuring the amount of the at least first detected developmental marker compound, and
- (c) a means for comparing the amount to a base line established for male and female, developmental stage of the embryo, and/or alive and deceased or non-developed embryo, to determine whether the embryo is viable, male and/or female, and/or the developmental stage of the embryo.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.