System and method for in-rumen monitoring
AssigneeKahne Limited
InventorsPaul Benjamin Mallinson, Jose Alberto Laporte-Uribe
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Abstract
A system for monitoring digestive efficiency within the rumen of one or more ruminant animals comprises rumen boluses shaped and sized to be retained within the rumen dorsal sac and each comprising temperature, pH sensor, and redox sensors, and a wireless transmitter. A processor is arranged to derive from the sensor data one or more parameters indicative of animal digestive efficiency including any combination of one or more of hydrogen scale (rH), partial pressure of hydrogen (pp[H2]), oxygen fugacity (f(O2)) and free energy of the system (ΔG). A method and bolus are also claimed.
Claims20
A system for monitoring the process of fermentation within the rumen of one or more ruminant animals comprising:
- one or more rumen boluses each having a body comprising at or towards one end of the body opposed lateral extensions or tabs which are flexible toward the body but have memory towards a position extending outwardly of the body to retain the bolus within the dorsal sac of the rumen of the associated animal, the bolus having buoyancy within the dorsal sac against falling to the bottom of the rumen, and each bolus comprising within the body:
- a temperature sensor to provide data indicative of temperature within the rumen,
- a pH sensor to provide data indicative of pH within the rumen, and
- a redox sensor to provide data indicative of the oxidation-reduction potential within the rumen, and
- a wireless transmitter for transmitting data or derived parameters to a remote station, and
- in the or each bolus or at a remote station a processor arranged to derive from the sensor data one or more parameters indicative of the process of fermentation.
A method for monitoring the process of fermentation in the rumen of one or more ruminant animals comprising the steps of:
- providing a bolus within the dorsal sac of the rumen of the or each animal, the bolus having a body comprising at or towards one end of the body opposed lateral extensions or tabs which are flexible towards the body but have memory towards a position extending outwardly of the body to retain the bolus within the dorsal sac of the rumen of the associated animal, the bolus having buoyancy within the dorsal sac against falling to the bottom of the rumen, and each bolus comprising within the body:
- a temperature sensor to provide data indicative of the temperature within the rumen,
- a pH sensor to provide data indicative of the pH within the rumen, and
- a redox sensor to provide data indicative of the oxidation-reduction potential within the rumen, and
- sensing via the bolus a combination of temperature, pH, and oxidation-reduction potential within the dorsal sac of the or each rumen,
- wirelessly transmitting from the bolus the sensed data or derived parameters to a remote receiver, and
- in a processor in the bolus or at a remote station deriving from the sensor data one or more parameters indicative of the process of fermentation.
A rumen bolus for monitoring the process of fermentation of a ruminant animal, comprising:
- a body comprising at or towards one end of the body opposed lateral extensions or tabs which are flexible towards the body but have memory towards a position extending outwardly of the body to retain the bolus within the dorsal sac of the rumen of the animal, the bolus having buoyancy within the dorsal sac against falling to the bottom of the rumen, and
- housed within the body of the bolus:
- a temperature sensor to provide data indicative of the temperature within the rumen,
- a pH sensor to provide data indicative of the pH within the rumen,
- a redox sensor to provide data indicative of the oxidation-reduction potential within the rumen, and
- a wireless transmitter to transmit sensor data or one or more parameters derived by processing the sensor data, or both, to a remote station, wherein when the wireless transmitter is operable to transmit the one or more derived parameters, the one or more parameters are derived in a processor located in the bolus.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.