Method and system for verification of fertilization of poultry eggs
OwnerMichael Coheninventor
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Abstract
A method for verification of the presence of a living embryo in an incubating poultry egg. The method comprises the steps of: causing at least two electrodes to make conductive contact with the outside surface of the shell of an egg; amplifying any of the analog signals received via two of the at least two electrodes; analyzing the signals after amplification, using a program in a microprocessor, to establish whether the signals originated in the cardiac activity of the embryo; and providing information confirming or negating the presence of a living embryo in the egg. The invention also provides a corresponding system for carrying out the method.
Claims18
A method for verification of the presence of a living embryo in an incubating poultry egg, comprising the steps of:
- causing at least two electrodes to make conductive contact with the outside surface of the shell of said egg;
- amplifying any analog signal received via two of said electrodes;
- analyzing the amplified said signal using a program executable by a microprocessor to establish whether said signal originated in cardiac activity of said living embryo, and
- using such analysis to provide information confirming or negating the presence of a living embryo in said egg.
A system for verification of the presence of living embryos in incubating poultry eggs, comprising:
- an array of detector heads, each of said heads including at least two electrodes adapted to make contact with a surface of a shell of one of said eggs;
- a microprocessor responsive to a signal received by said two electrodes, and adapted to establish presence or absence of cardiac activity of a live embryo from said signal;
- and
- means, coupled to said microprocessor for facilitating separation of eggs found lacking such presence from eggs in which such presence has been confirmed.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.