Soft leaf tissue elasticity tester and use thereof for measuring plant health
AssigneeIntelligent Sentinel LLC
InventorsCHERYL M. ARMSTRONG, JOSEPH A. CAPOBIANCO, JR., YONG PING DUAN, WAN Y. SHIH, WEI HENG SHIH
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Abstract
Described herein is a soft leaf tissue elasticity tester comprising a modified piezoelectric finger (PEF) sensor and a sample pad useful for rapidly and sensitively screening plants for disease by quantifying changes in tissue elasticity and/or stiffness as an indication of plant disease. Also described is a method of screening plants for disease by quantifying changes in tissue elasticity and/or stiffness as an indication of infection. The tissue elasticity measurements used to screen plants for disease may be performed using the soft tissue elasticity tester described.
Claims21
A soft leaf tissue elasticity tester comprising a piezoelectric finger (PEF) and a sample pad, and optionally comprising a DC voltage and a voltage detector in communication with the PEF.
A method for screening a plant for disease, the method comprising:
- determining an elastic modulus of a soft leaf tissue from the plant;
- comparing the elastic modulus determined for the soft leaf tissue from the plant to a calculated elastic modulus cut-off;
- and
- concluding that the plant is diseased if the elastic modulus determined for the soft leaf tissue from the plant is larger than the calculated elastic modulus cut-off.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.