Patent ID: 7363817

Claim:
A system for detecting foreign material in meat comprising: a planar array of LEDs producing source light having a wavelength less than about 600 nm operably associated with a wall substantially transparent to the source light and defining a portion of a meat conveyor optically backlit by the array of LEDs; a camera operable to capture source light passing through meat transported by the conveyor; a processing device operable to capture images of the meat from the camera and to determine the presence and spatial location of foreign material in the meat when at least a portion of the captured image exceeds a predetermined threshold; one or more inspection devices operable to transmit ultrasound to interrogate the meat; a plurality of spaced receivers each operable to receive an off-angle ultrasound scattering response to interrogation with the ultrasound; and a processing device operable to determine presence of a foreign material in the process stream based on a comparison of the off-angle ultrasound scattering response to a predetermined threshold.