Characterization of plant parts (materials) using low frequency ultrasound

Ultrasound technology has been widely used in various applications including medical diagnostics and non-destructive testing. Although it has also shown potential, its application in plant pests and quality monitoring is still in its infancy. Existing design solutions were mainly based on heuristic experiments rather than a set of solid theory. In order to develop constructive procedural solutions, characterization of the plant materials needs to be done.

By learning from ultrasound-based mechanical characterization of other soft materials, such as biological tissue, hypothetically
similar approaches are used to characterize plant material. However, due to the different characteristics of plant material, it is expected that the range of ultrasound frequency and intensity will be different. There is a large knowledge gap in this area. Therefore, the aim of this research is to investigate and develop a characterization of a set of selective plant materials (fruits, leaves) representing a rather large class of plant materials using ultrasound.

This study is expected to lead to the development of new and useful theoretical and practical guidelines and methods of how to use
ultrasound-based imaging technology or ultrasound for accurate, safe and efficient non-destructive quality monitoring of plant products and for the detection of plant pests, which could have significant positive effects for biosecurity and the agricultural industry.

Funded by: Kempe Scholarships

Contact: Professor Dina Shona Laila