In Depth Analysis of Food Structures: Hyperspectral Subsurface Laser Scattering

In this paper we describe a computer vision system based on SLS (Subsurface Laser Scattering) for industrial food inspection. To ob- tain high and uniform quality, in for example dairy products like yoghurt and cheese, it is important to monitor the change in size and shape of microscopic particles over time. In this paper we demonstrate the use- fulness of our SLS system for characterizing food items. We use a laser source that can be tuned to any wavelength in the range of 455 nm - 1020 nm by applying an AOTF (Acousto-Optical Tunable Filter) to an optical beam generated by a SuperK (supercontinuum) laser system. In our experiments we show how the system can be used for discriminating dairy products with dierent structure and how the structural change of a foam can be monitored over time. Time stability of the system is essential for measurements over several hours, and we demonstrate the time stability by measuring the re ectance prole of an inorganic phan- tom. The SLS technique is a very promising technique for non-intrusive food inspection, especially for homogenous products where particle size and shape are important parameters.