This U.S. patent application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119 to: India Application No. 202021045759, filed on Oct. 20, 2020. The entire contents of the aforementioned application are incorporated herein by reference.
This disclosure relates generally to food quality estimation, and more particularly to system and method for real-time non-invasive estimation of food quality within enclosed package.
Global food wastage is indeed a big challenge today. According to Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)—United Nations, food wastage accounts to 1.3 billion tons annually. The wastage is found at every node of food supply chain starting from farms to consumers and is largely affected by the variation of environmental parameters over time. This wastage has a considerable negative impact on the society, environment, and world economy. One in every 9 persons in the world starves and there is an economic loss of 1.2 trillion USD.
Main reason behind said food wastage is inability to monitor the variation of food quality in real-time under different supply chain scenarios. To address this challenge real time monitoring and prediction of food quality for variety of foods becomes essential. This would enable dynamic decisions on rerouting, repurposing, and recycling.
Embodiments of the present disclosure present technological improvements as solutions to one or more of the above-mentioned technical problems recognized by the inventors in conventional systems. For example, in one embodiment, a method for real-time non-invasive estimation of food quality within enclosed package is provided. The method includes applying, via one or more hardware processors, a potential over a plurality of frequencies through a food item contained inside an enclosed package using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy; obtaining, via the one or more hardware processors, values of electrical voltages and electrical impedances of the food item as a function of frequency of the applied potential; deriving, using a trained model via the one or more hardware processors, a plurality of features from the values of the electrical voltages and the electrical impedances obtained, wherein the trained model is trained on an impedance spectrum and a voltage spectrum data obtained by varying the frequency over a range of voltages to characterize the food item and correlate with quality; and estimating, via the one or more hardware processors, the quality of the food item in real-time by co-relating the plurality of derived features with the quality of the food item contained inside the enclosed package.
In another aspect, there is provided a system for assessing insider influence on enterprise assets is provided. The system comprises: a memory storing instructions; one or more communication interfaces; and one or more hardware processors coupled to the memory via the one or more communication interfaces, wherein the one or more hardware processors are configured by the instructions to: apply, a potential over a plurality of frequencies through a food item contained inside an enclosed package using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The system further comprises obtaining values of electrical voltages and electrical impedances of the food item as a function of frequency of the applied potential; derive, using a trained model, a plurality of features from the values of the electrical voltages and the electrical impedances obtained, wherein the trained model is trained on an impedance spectrum and a voltage spectrum data obtained by varying the frequency over a range of voltages to characterize the food item and correlate with quality; and estimate, the quality of the food item in real-time by correlating the plurality of derived features with the quality of the food item contained inside the enclosed package.
In yet another aspect, there are provided one or more non-transitory machine-readable information storage mediums comprising one or more instructions which when executed by one or more hardware processors cause applying, via one or more hardware processors, a potential over a plurality of frequencies through a food item contained inside an enclosed package using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy; obtaining, via the one or more hardware processors, values of electrical voltages and electrical impedances of the food item as a function of frequency of the applied potential; deriving, using a trained model via the one or more hardware processors, a plurality of features from the values of the electrical voltages and the electrical impedances obtained, wherein the trained model is trained on an impedance spectrum and a voltage spectrum data obtained by varying the frequency over a range of voltages to characterize the food item and correlate with quality; and estimating, via the one or more hardware processors, the quality of the food item in real-time by co-relating the plurality of derived features with the quality of the food item contained inside the enclosed package.
It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the invention, as claimed.
The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this disclosure, illustrate exemplary embodiments and, together with the description, serve to explain the disclosed principles.
Exemplary embodiments are described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the figures, the left-most digit(s) of a reference number identifies the figure in which the reference number first appears. Wherever convenient, the same reference numbers are used throughout the drawings to refer to the same or like parts. While examples and features of disclosed principles are described herein, modifications, adaptations, and other implementations are possible without departing from the scope of the disclosed embodiments. It is intended that the following detailed description be considered as exemplary only, with the true scope being indicated by the following claims.
Currently various conventional methods for monitoring quality of food items are available. For instance, various chemical and biological sensors for food monitoring are available that sense various attributes of the packaged food to measure, for example, freshness markers, allergens, pathogens, adulterants, and toxicants via invasive means. However, most sensors are still in the development stage and need significant work before implementation in real-world applications. Issues like sensitivity, selectivity, robustness, and safety of the sensing materials due to potential contact or migration in food need to be established. Various other known techniques for monitoring quality of food such as fish, meat, etc. utilize invasive methods that require direct contact of the food item with the sensors. However, in certain scenarios it is not desirable to expose the food item to the sensors, for example, when the food item is packaged in a sealed container or an enclosed package. An example of such food item may be ready-to-consume-beverages packaged in a container.
Various embodiments disclosed herein provides method and system for estimating quality of food item packaged in an enclosed package. The enclosed package may include a plurality of polyethylene layers and a conducting layer arranged between two adjacent polyethylene layers. When the food item contained in the enclosed package is in contact with the enclosed package packaging layers, the disclosed system may determine the quality of food item by using Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS).
An important contribution of the disclosed embodiments is that the conducting layer is configured as special functionalized micro-electrodes for specific quality indicators associated with the respective food item contained in the enclosed package. In an embodiment, the quality indicators may include, but are not limited to pH change, growth of bacterium such as Alicyclobacillus Bacteria, and so on. When the food comes in contact with the micro electrodes (gold-plated) etched on the Aluminium layer of the packaging material, the functionalized micro-electrodes created between the conducting material and the respective food item determines a value of electrical voltage and impedance of the beverage as a function of frequency of an applied potential. Herein, it will be understood that the polyethylene layers may include micro-openings that will expose the food item within the enclosed package to the electrodes etched onto the Aluminium layer. The value of the electrical voltage and impedance may be input to a trained model trained predicting the quality of the beverage based on the value of the electrical voltage and impedance. In an embodiment, the trained model may be trained on an impedance spectrum and a voltage spectrum data obtained by sweeping the frequency over a range of AC (alternating current) to characterize the fluid and correlate with quality.
Exemplary embodiments are described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the figures, the left-most digit(s) of a reference number identifies the figure in which the reference number first appears. Wherever convenient, the same reference numbers are used throughout the drawings to refer to the same or like parts. While examples and features of disclosed principles are described herein, modifications, adaptations, and other implementations are possible without departing from the scope of the disclosed embodiments. It is intended that the following detailed description be considered as exemplary only, with the true scope being indicated by the following embodiments described herein.
Referring now to the drawings, and more particularly to
The enclosed package 100 may be configured from a plurality of layers. As illustrated in
In an embodiment, the conducting layer may be configured as functionalized micro-electrodes corresponding to the food item contained in the enclosed package. Herein, the term ‘functionalized micro-electrodes’ refers to the property of the conducting layer modified to act like functionalized micro-electrode array by virtue of etching electrode configuration thereon. Herein, the functionalized micro-electrode array may be fabricated by using thin-film technologies. The quality of every food item may be determined based on a specific parameter/indicator. For example, if the food item contained in the enclosed package is orange juice, then in one example scenario, the quality indicator may be pH of the orange juice. Herein, the ‘functionalized’ micro-electrodes refer to a distinct configuration of Aluminium layer corresponding to orange juice that may facilitate in determination of the value of the indicator specific to the orange juice, for example, the value of pH of orange juice may be determined upon coming in contact with the micro electrodes etched on the Aluminium layer of the packaging material. In an embodiment, the micro-electrodes may be coated with a polymer which may attract only the indicator of interest (which is to be measured) for determining food quality.
In an embodiment, a method and a system may be utilized for estimating the quality of food item contained in the enclosed package, for example the enclosed package 100. The method and system are explained further with reference to
Referring now to
The system 200 includes or is otherwise in communication with one or more hardware processors such as a processor 202, at least one memory such as a memory 204, and an I/O interface 206. The processor 202, memory 204, and the I/O interface 206 may be coupled by a system bus such as a system bus 208 or a similar mechanism. The I/O interface 206 may include a variety of software and hardware interfaces, for example, a web interface, a graphical user interface, and the like. The interfaces 206 may include a variety of software and hardware interfaces, for example, interfaces for peripheral device(s), such as a keyboard, a mouse, an external memory, a camera device, and a printer. Further, the interfaces 206 may enable the system 200 to communicate with other devices, such as web servers and external databases. The interfaces 206 can facilitate multiple communications within a wide variety of networks and protocol types, including wired networks, for example, local area network (LAN), cable, etc., and wireless networks, such as Wireless LAN (WLAN), cellular, or satellite. For the purpose, the interfaces 206 may include one or more ports for connecting a number of computing systems with one another or to another server computer. The I/O interface 206 may include one or more ports for connecting a number of devices to one another or to another server.
The hardware processor 202 may be implemented as one or more microprocessors, microcomputers, microcontrollers, digital signal processors, central processing units, state machines, logic circuitries, and/or any devices that manipulate signals based on operational instructions. Among other capabilities, the hardware processor 202 is configured to fetch and execute computer-readable instructions stored in the memory 204.
The memory 204 may include any computer-readable medium known in the art including, for example, volatile memory, such as static random access memory (SRAM) and dynamic random access memory (DRAM), and/or non-volatile memory, such as read only memory (ROM), erasable programmable ROM, flash memories, hard disks, optical disks, and magnetic tapes. In an embodiment, the memory 204 includes a plurality of modules 220 and a repository 240 for storing data processed, received, and generated by one or more of the modules 220. The modules 220 may include routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, and so on, which perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types.
The repository 240, amongst other things, includes a system database 242 and other data 244. The other data 244 may include data generated as a result of the execution of one or more modules in the other modules 220. In an embodiment, the repository 240 may store a voltage spectrum and an impedance spectrum associated with the food item that may be indicative of quality of the food item. The voltage spectrum and the impedance spectrum may be obtained by changing the frequency over a range of AC (alternating current) to characterize the food item and correlate with quality over a period of time. In an embodiment, the voltage spectrum and the impedance spectrum may be utilized for training a food quality prediction algorithm to predict quality of various types of the food items. A method of quality estimation of a food item contained in the enclosed package (for example, the enclosed package 100) by using the system (for example, the system 200) is described further with reference to
Referring to
Operations of the flowchart, and combinations of operation in the flowchart, may be implemented by various means, such as hardware, firmware, processor, circuitry and/or other device associated with execution of software including one or more computer program instructions. For example, one or more of the procedures described in various embodiments may be embodied by computer program instructions. In an example embodiment, the computer program instructions, which embody the procedures, described in various embodiments may be stored by at least one memory device of a system and executed by at least one processor in the system. Any such computer program instructions may be loaded onto a computer or other programmable system (for example, hardware) to produce a machine, such that the resulting computer or other programmable system embody means for implementing the operations specified in the flowchart. It will be noted herein that the operations of the method 300 are described with help of system 200. However, the operations of the method 300 can be described and/or practiced by using any other system.
At step 302 of the method 300, the one or more hardware processors 202 apply a potential over a plurality of frequencies through a food item contained inside an enclosed package using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The potential is determined by using functionalized micro electrodes in at least one functional layer of a plurality of layers of the enclosed package, as described previously with reference to
At step 304 of the method 300, the one or more hardware processors 202 obtain values of electrical voltages and electrical impedances of the food item as a function of frequency of the applied potential. At step 306 of the method 300, the one or more hardware processors 202 derive using a trained model, a plurality of features from the values of the electrical voltages and the electrical impedances obtained, wherein the trained model is trained on an impedance spectrum and a voltage spectrum data obtained by varying the frequency over a range of voltages to characterize the food item and correlate with quality.
As described with reference to
At step 308 of the method 300, the one or more hardware processors 202 estimate the quality of the food item in real-time by co-relating the plurality of derived features with the quality of the food item contained inside the enclosed package.
The written description describes the subject matter herein to enable any person skilled in the art to make and use the embodiments. The scope of the subject matter embodiments is defined by the claims and may include other modifications that occur to those skilled in the art. Such other modifications are intended to be within the scope of the claims if they have similar elements that do not differ from the literal language of the claims or if they include equivalent elements with insubstantial differences from the literal language of the claims.
Various embodiments disclosed herein provide method and system for estimating quality of food items contained in a packaged container. The embodiments of present disclosure herein address unresolved problem of non-invasively determining the quality of packaged food items in real time.
It is to be understood that the scope of the protection is extended to such a program and in addition to a computer-readable means having a message therein; such computer-readable storage means contain program-code means for implementation of one or more steps of the method, when the program runs on a server or mobile device or any suitable programmable device. The hardware device can be any kind of device which can be programmed including e.g., any kind of computer like a server or a personal computer, or the like, or any combination thereof. The device may also include means which could be e.g., hardware means like e.g., an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), or a combination of hardware and software means, e.g., an ASIC and an FPGA, or at least one microprocessor and at least one memory with software processing components located therein. Thus, the means can include both hardware means and software means. The method embodiments described herein could be implemented in hardware and software. The device may also include software means. Alternatively, the embodiments may be implemented on different hardware devices, e.g., using a plurality of CPUs.
The embodiments herein can comprise hardware and software elements. The embodiments that are implemented in software include but are not limited to, firmware, resident software, microcode, etc. The functions performed by various components described herein may be implemented in other components or combinations of other components. For the purposes of this description, a computer-usable or computer readable medium can be any apparatus that can comprise, store, communicate, propagate, or transport the program for use by or in connection with the instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.
The illustrated steps are set out to explain the exemplary embodiments shown, and it should be anticipated that ongoing technological development will change the manner in which particular functions are performed. These examples are presented herein for purposes of illustration, and not limitation. Further, the boundaries of the functional building blocks have been arbitrarily defined herein for the convenience of the description. Alternative boundaries can be defined so long as the specified functions and relationships thereof are appropriately performed. Alternatives (including equivalents, extensions, variations, deviations, etc., of those described herein) will be apparent to persons skilled in the relevant art(s) based on the teachings contained herein. Such alternatives fall within the scope of the disclosed embodiments. Also, the words “comprising,” “having,” “containing,” and “including,” and other similar forms are intended to be equivalent in meaning and be open ended in that an item or items following any one of these words is not meant to be an exhaustive listing of such item or items, or meant to be limited to only the listed item or items. It must also be noted that as used herein and in the appended claims, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” include plural references unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.
Furthermore, one or more computer-readable storage media may be utilized in implementing embodiments consistent with the present disclosure. A computer-readable storage medium refers to any type of physical memory on which information or data readable by a processor may be stored. Thus, a computer-readable storage medium may store instructions for execution by one or more processors, including instructions for causing the processor(s) to perform steps or stages consistent with the embodiments described herein. The term “computer-readable medium” should be understood to include tangible items and exclude carrier waves and transient signals, i.e., be non-transitory. Examples include random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), volatile memory, nonvolatile memory, hard drives, CD ROMs, DVDs, flash drives, disks, and any other known physical storage media.
It is intended that the disclosure and examples be considered as exemplary only, with a true scope of disclosed embodiments being indicated by the following claims.
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20220120703 A1 | Apr 2022 | US |