Patent ID: 6099473
Filing Date: 2000-08-08
Classification: A22B,G01N,G01S,G06T

Abstract:
A method for providing a measurement of muscle width from an ultrasonic image of an outline of a muscle from an animal or carcass, comprising the following steps:a) providing computer having:1) a computer processor operatively connected to a storage device that is capable of storing control logic for said processor,2) an electronic input device operatively connected to said computer processor for receiving an input of rows and columns of gray level pixel data from an ultrasonic scan image including said outline of said muscle of said animal or carcass,3) first control logic that selects a region of said ultrasonic image input to analyze to determine a first edge of said muscle,4) second control logic that divides said selected region of said ultrasonic image input into subregions S.sub.j,k, wherein j designates a row and ranges between 1 and n and wherein k designates a column and ranges between 1 and o such that o is greater than 1, such that said subregions are aligned in rows and columns throughout said ultrasonic image input,5) third control logic that calculates a sum of said gray level pixel data for each of said subregions S.sub.j,k within each row j,6) fourth control logic that compares said sums for each of said subregions S.sub.j,k to determine which of said subregions S.sub.j,k has the highest sum within each row j,7) fifth control logic that compares said subregions S.sub.j,k with the highest sum for each row j to define a position of said first edge of said muscle, and8) sixth control logic that uses said defined position of said first edge of said muscle to provide a measurement of a relative width of said muscle by comparing said defined position to a defined second edge of said muscle as output;b) providing an input of rows and columns of gray level pixel data of an ultrasonic scan image including said outline of said muscle of said animal or carcass to said computer system; andc) using said computer system to provide a measurement of a relative width of said muscle by comparing said defined position to a defined second edge of said muscle as output.