Application of Ultrasonic Waves to Detect Sealworms in Fish Tissue

• Published in: Journal of Food Science
• Main Authors: HAFSTEINSSON, HANNES, PARKER, KEVIN, CHIVERS, ROBERT, RIZVI, SYED S.H.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 1989
• Subjects: atlantic cod; Gadus morhua
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2621.1989.tb03053.x; https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fj.1365-2621.1989.tb03053.x; http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/wol1/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2621.1989.tb03053.x/fullpdf

ABSTRACT The potential of employing ultrasonic waves to detect sealworms embedded deep in the fish musculature was demonstrated. Images were made of sealworm‐infested cod by using both the scanning laser acoustic microscopic technique, as well as the pulse‐echo technique at 10 MHz. Also, attenuation of ultrasound in the frequency range from 1.0 to 12.25 MHz was studied in Atlantic cod ( Gadus morhua ), haddock ( Melanogrammus aeglefinus ), ocean catfish ( Anarhichas lupus ), and the parasitic sealworm ( Phocanema decipiens ). The difference in the attenuation of ultrasound in sealworms and in fish tissue increased as a function of frequency. The differences between ultrasonic properties (attenuation and backscatter) of fish tissue and seal‐worms was attributable to the high collagen content of the sealworms. The differences were sufficiently large at 10 MHz that sealworms could be detected in over 4 cm thickness of fish tissue.