FORM 2
THE PATENTS ACT, 1970
(39 of 1970)
&
THE PATENT RULES, 2003
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION
(See Section 10 and Rule 13)
Title of invention:
SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR REAL-TIME NON-INVASIVE
ESTIMATION OF FOOD QUALITY WITHIN ENCLOSED PACKAGE
Applicant
Tata Consultancy Services Limited
A company Incorporated in India under the Companies Act, 1956
Having address:
Nirmal Building, 9th floor,
Nariman point, Mumbai 400021,
Maharashtra, India
Preamble to the description:
The following specification particularly describes the invention and the
manner in which it is to be performed.
2
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS AND PRIORITY
[001] The present application claims priority from Indian provisional
application no. 202021045759, filed on October 20, 2020. The entire contents of
the aforementioned application are incorporated herein by reference.
5
TECHNICAL FIELD
[002] The disclosure herein generally relates to food quality estimation,
and, more particularly, to system and method for real-time non-invasive estimation
of food quality within enclosed package.
10
BACKGROUND
[003] Global food wastage is indeed a big challenge today. According to
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) – United Nations, food wastage accounts
to 1.3 billion tons annually. The wastage is found at every node of food supply chain
15 starting from farms to consumers and is largely affected by the variation of
environmental parameters over time. This wastage has a considerable negative
impact on the society, environment, and world economy. One in every 9 persons in
the world starves and there is an economic loss of 1.2 trillion USD.
[004] Main reason behind said food wastage is inability to monitor the
20 variation of food quality in real-time under different supply chain scenarios. To
address this challenge real time monitoring and prediction of food quality for
variety of foods becomes essential. This would enable dynamic decisions on
rerouting, repurposing, and recycling.
25 SUMMARY
[005] Embodiments of the present disclosure present technological
improvements as solutions to one or more of the above-mentioned technical
problems recognized by the inventors in conventional systems. For example, in one
embodiment, a method for real-time non-invasive estimation of food quality within
30 enclosed package is provided. The method includes applying, via one or more
hardware processors, a potential over a plurality of frequencies through a food item
contained inside an enclosed package using electrochemical impedance
3
spectroscopy; obtaining, via the one or more hardware processors, values of
electrical voltages and electrical impedances of the food item as a function of
frequency of the applied potential; deriving, using a trained model via the one or
more hardware processors, a plurality of features from the values of the electrical
5 voltages and the electrical impedances obtained, wherein the trained model is
trained on an impedance spectrum and a voltage spectrum data obtained by varying
the frequency over a range of voltages to characterize the food item and correlate
with quality; and estimating, via the one or more hardware processors, the quality
of the food item in real-time by co-relating the plurality of derived features with the
10 quality of the food item contained inside the enclosed package.
[006] In another aspect, there is provided a system for assessing insider
influence on enterprise assets is provided. The system comprises: a memory storing
instructions; one or more communication interfaces; and one or more hardware
processors coupled to the memory via the one or more communication interfaces,
15 wherein the one or more hardware processors are configured by the instructions to:
apply, a potential over a plurality of frequencies through a food item contained
inside an enclosed package using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The
system further comprises obtaining values of electrical voltages and electrical
impedances of the food item as a function of frequency of the applied potential;
20 derive, using a trained model, a plurality of features from the values of the electrical
voltages and the electrical impedances obtained, wherein the trained model is
trained on an impedance spectrum and a voltage spectrum data obtained by varying
the frequency over a range of voltages to characterize the food item and correlate
with quality; and estimate, the quality of the food item in real-time by corelating
25 the plurality of derived features with the quality of the food item contained inside
the enclosed package.
[007] In yet another aspect, there are provided one or more non-transitory
machine-readable information storage mediums comprising one or more
instructions which when executed by one or more hardware processors cause
30 applying, via one or more hardware processors, a potential over a plurality of
frequencies through a food item contained inside an enclosed package using
electrochemical impedance spectroscopy; obtaining, via the one or more hardware
4
processors, values of electrical voltages and electrical impedances of the food item
as a function of frequency of the applied potential; deriving, using a trained model
via the one or more hardware processors, a plurality of features from the values of
the electrical voltages and the electrical impedances obtained, wherein the trained
5 model is trained on an impedance spectrum and a voltage spectrum data obtained
by varying the frequency over a range of voltages to characterize the food item and
correlate with quality; and estimating, via the one or more hardware processors, the
quality of the food item in real-time by co-relating the plurality of derived features
with the quality of the food item contained inside the enclosed package.
10 [008] It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and
the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not
restrictive of the invention, as claimed.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
15 [009] The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and
constitute a part of this disclosure, illustrate exemplary embodiments and, together
with the description, serve to explain the disclosed principles:
[010] FIG. 1 illustrates an example of an enclosed package in accordance
with an example embodiment of the present disclosure.
20 [011] FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of a system for estimating quality
of a food item contained in an enclosed package (of FIG. 1) is illustrated, according
to some embodiments of the present disclosure.
[012] FIG. 3 illustrates a method for estimating quality of a food item
contained in an enclosed package in accordance with some embodiments of the
25 present disclosure.
[013] FIG. 4 illustrates an equivalent circuit of the food item in
conjunction with a plurality of embedded electrodes using electrochemical
impedance spectroscopy (EIS) by sweeping the frequency over a range of voltages
in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.
30 [014] FIGS. 5A through 5F shows a use case example for the simulated
results illustrating the effect of change in a Patulin concentration in an apple juice
5
contained in an enclosed package, on a Nyquist plot in accordance with some
embodiments of the present disclosure.
[015] FIG. 6 shows a use case example illustrating a plurality of features
derived from the Nyquist plot in accordance with some embodiments of the present
5 disclosure.
[016] FIG. 7 shows a use case example illustrating the implementation of
Nyquist Plot features to differentiate between two samples of the food item which
differ in quality in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.
10 DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS
[017] Exemplary embodiments are described with reference to the
accompanying drawings. In the figures, the left-most digit(s) of a reference number
identifies the figure in which the reference number first appears. Wherever
convenient, the same reference numbers are used throughout the drawings to refer
15 to the same or like parts. While examples and features of disclosed principles are
described herein, modifications, adaptations, and other implementations are
possible without departing from the scope of the disclosed embodiments.
[018] Currently various conventional methods for monitoring quality of
food items are available. For instance, various chemical and biological sensors for
20 food monitoring are available that sense various attributes of the packaged food to
measure, for example, freshness markers, allergens, pathogens, adulterants, and
toxicants via invasive means. However, most sensors are still in the development
stage and need significant work before implementation in real-world applications.
Issues like sensitivity, selectivity, robustness, and safety of the sensing materials
25 due to potential contact or migration in food need to be established. Various other
known techniques for monitoring quality of food such as fish, meat, etc. utilize
invasive methods that require direct contact of the food item with the sensors.
However, in certain scenarios it is not desirable to expose the food item to the
sensors, for example, when the food item is packaged in a sealed container or an
30 enclosed package. An example of such food item may be ready-to-consumebeverages packaged in a container.
6
[019] Various embodiments disclosed herein provides method and system
for estimating quality of food item packaged in an enclosed package. The enclosed
package may include a plurality of polyethylene layers and a conducting layer
arranged between two adjacent polyethylene layers. When the food item contained
5 in the enclosed package is in contact with the enclosed package packaging layers,
the disclosed system may determine the quality of food item by using
Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS).
[020] An important contribution of the disclosed embodiments is that the
conducting layer is configured as special functionalized micro-electrodes for
10 specific quality indicators associated with the respective food item contained in the
enclosed package. In an embodiment, the quality indicators may include, but are
not limited to pH change, growth of bacterium such as Alicyclobacillus Bacteria,
and so on. When the food comes in contact with the micro electrodes (gold-plated)
etched on the Aluminium layer of the packaging material, the functionalized micro15 electrodes created between the conducting material and the respective food item
determines a value of electrical voltage and impedance of the beverage as a function
of frequency of an applied potential. Herein, it will be understood that the
polyethylene layers may include micro-openings that will expose the food item
within the enclosed package to the electrodes etched onto the Aluminium layer. The
20 value of the electrical voltage and impedance may be input to a trained model
trained predicting the quality of the beverage based on the value of the electrical
voltage and impedance. In an embodiment, the trained model may be trained on an
impedance spectrum and a voltage spectrum data obtained by sweeping the
frequency over a range of AC (alternating current) to characterize the fluid and
25 correlate with quality.
[021] Exemplary embodiments are described with reference to the
accompanying drawings. In the figures, the left-most digit(s) of a reference number
identifies the figure in which the reference number first appears. Wherever
convenient, the same reference numbers are used throughout the drawings to refer
30 to the same or like parts. While examples and features of disclosed principles are
described herein, modifications, adaptations, and other implementations are
possible without departing from the scope of the disclosed embodiments. It is
7
intended that the following detailed description be considered as exemplary only,
with the true scope being indicated by the following embodiments described herein.
[022] Referring now to the drawings, and more particularly to FIG. 1
through 7, where similar reference characters denote corresponding features
5 consistently throughout the figures, there are shown preferred embodiments and
these embodiments are described in the context of the following exemplary system
and/or method.
[023] FIG. 1 illustrates an example of an enclosed package 100 in
accordance with an example embodiment of the present disclosure. For the brevity
10 of description, the enclosed package 100 is shown to assume a cuboid shape,
however it will be understood that the enclosed package 100 may assume any shape
other than the shape and size shown.
[024] The enclosed package 100 may be configured from a plurality of
layers. As illustrated in FIG.1, the plurality of layers may include a plurality of
15 ethylene layers (for example, layers 1, 2, 4 and 5) and a conducting layer (for
example, a layer 3). The polyethylene layers may serve various purposed for
example. The purpose of polymer/polyethylene layers is to ensure non-reaction
with food in contact with the inner walls of the package. In an embodiment, the
conducting layer may be Aluminium layer. Typically, the Aluminium layer is a
20 protective layer that prevents oxidation due to light that may cause damage to food
item inside the enclosed package.
[025] In an embodiment, the conducting layer may be configured as
functionalized micro-electrodes corresponding to the food item contained in the
enclosed package. Herein, the term ‘functionalized micro-electrodes’ refers to the
25 property of the conducting layer modified to act like functionalized micro-electrode
array by virtue of etching electrode configuration thereon. Herein, the
functionalized micro-electrode array may be fabricated by using thin-film
technologies. The quality of every food item may be determined based on a specific
parameter/indicator. For example, if the food item contained in the enclosed
30 package is orange juice, then in one example scenario, the quality indicator may be
pH of the orange juice. Herein, the ‘functionalized’ micro-electrodes refer to a
distinct configuration of Aluminium layer corresponding to orange juice that may
8
facilitate in determination of the value of the indicator specific to the orange juice,
for example, the value of pH of orange juice may be determined upon coming in
contact with the micro electrodes etched on the Aluminium layer of the packaging
material. In an embodiment, the micro-electrodes may be coated with a polymer
5 which may attract only the indicator of interest (which is to be measured) for
determining food quality.
[026] In an embodiment, a method and a system may be utilized for
estimating the quality of food item contained in the enclosed package, for example
the enclosed package 100. The method and system are explained further with
10 reference to FIGS. 2 and 3 below.
[027] Referring now to FIG. 2, a block diagram of a system for estimating
quality of a food item contained in an enclosed package (for example, the enclosed
package 100 of FIG. 1) is illustrated, according to some embodiments of the present
disclosure. The system is capable of training a model for estimating the quality of
15 food item based on a determination of value of electrical voltage and impedance of
the food item in the enclosed package 100.
[028] The system 200 includes or is otherwise in communication with one
or more hardware processors such as a processor 202, at least one memory such as
a memory 204, and an I/O interface 206. The processor 202, memory 204, and the
20 I/O interface 206 may be coupled by a system bus such as a system bus 208 or a
similar mechanism. The I/O interface 206 may include a variety of software and
hardware interfaces, for example, a web interface, a graphical user interface, and
the like. The interfaces 206 may include a variety of software and hardware
interfaces, for example, interfaces for peripheral device(s), such as a keyboard, a
25 mouse, an external memory, a camera device, and a printer. Further, the interfaces
206 may enable the system 200 to communicate with other devices, such as web
servers and external databases. The interfaces 206 can facilitate multiple
communications within a wide variety of networks and protocol types, including
wired networks, for example, local area network (LAN), cable, etc., and wireless
30 networks, such as Wireless LAN (WLAN), cellular, or satellite. For the purpose,
the interfaces 206 may include one or more ports for connecting a number of
computing systems with one another or to another server computer. The I/O
9
interface 206 may include one or more ports for connecting a number of devices to
one another or to another server.
[029] The hardware processor 202 may be implemented as one or more
microprocessors, microcomputers, microcontrollers, digital signal processors,
5 central processing units, state machines, logic circuitries, and/or any devices that
manipulate signals based on operational instructions. Among other capabilities, the
hardware processor 202 is configured to fetch and execute computer-readable
instructions stored in the memory 204.
[030] The memory 204 may include any computer-readable medium
10 known in the art including, for example, volatile memory, such as static random
access memory (SRAM) and dynamic random access memory (DRAM), and/or
non-volatile memory, such as read only memory (ROM), erasable programmable
ROM, flash memories, hard disks, optical disks, and magnetic tapes. In an
embodiment, the memory 204 includes a plurality of modules 220 and a repository
15 240 for storing data processed, received, and generated by one or more of the
modules 220. The modules 220 may include routines, programs, objects,
components, data structures, and so on, which perform particular tasks or
implement particular abstract data types.
[031] The repository 240, amongst other things, includes a system
20 database 242 and other data 244. The other data 244 may include data generated as
a result of the execution of one or more modules in the other modules 220. In an
embodiment, the repository 240 may store a voltage spectrum and an impedance
spectrum associated with the food item that may be indicative of quality of the food
item. The voltage spectrum and the impedance spectrum may be obtained by
25 changing the frequency over a range of AC (alternating current) to characterize the
food item and correlate with quality over a period of time. In an embodiment, the
voltage spectrum and the impedance spectrum may be utilized for training a food
quality prediction algorithm to predict quality of various types of the food items. A
method of quality estimation of a food item contained in the enclosed package (for
30 example, the enclosed package 100) by using the system (for example, the system
200) is described further with reference to FIG. 3.
10
[032] Referring to FIG. 3, a flow diagram of a method 300 for quality
estimation of a food item contained in the enclosed package is described in
accordance with an example embodiment. The method 300 depicted in the flow
chart may be executed by a system, for example, the system, 200 of FIG. 2. In an
5 example embodiment, the system 200 may be embodied in a computing device. In
another embodiment, the system 200 may be embodied in a potentiostat, as will be
described further in the description.
[033] Operations of the flowchart, and combinations of operation in the
flowchart, may be implemented by various means, such as hardware, firmware,
10 processor, circuitry and/or other device associated with execution of software
including one or more computer program instructions. For example, one or more of
the procedures described in various embodiments may be embodied by computer
program instructions. In an example embodiment, the computer program
instructions, which embody the procedures, described in various embodiments may
15 be stored by at least one memory device of a system and executed by at least one
processor in the system. Any such computer program instructions may be loaded
onto a computer or other programmable system (for example, hardware) to produce
a machine, such that the resulting computer or other programmable system embody
means for implementing the operations specified in the flowchart. It will be noted
20 herein that the operations of the method 300 are described with help of system 200.
However, the operations of the method 300 can be described and/or practiced by
using any other system.
[034] At step 302 of the method 300, the one or more hardware processors
202 apply a potential over a plurality of frequencies through a food item contained
25 inside an enclosed package using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS).
The potential is determined by using functionalized micro electrodes in at least one
functional layer of a plurality of layers of the enclosed package, as described
previously with reference to FIG. 1. Herein the word “potential” refers to the
“voltage” and can be interchangeably used. In an example embodiment of the
30 present disclosure, the potential or the voltage value of 100 mV with an AC
(alternating current) amplitude of 10 mV and the frequency sweep or range of 0.001
Hz to 100 kHz with 101 sample points is applied through the food item (for
11
example: apple juice) as depicted in FIG. 4. In an embodiment of the present
disclosure, the plurality of frequencies or a range of frequencies of the potential or
the voltage applied through the food item is specific to the biomarker present in the
food item. For example., the potential with the plurality of frequencies which ranges
5 from 0.001 to 100000 Hz is applied through the apple juice to determine the
concentration of patulin, which serves as the biomarker for the estimation of the
quality of apple juice. Herein, the terms “plurality of frequencies” and “range of
frequencies” can be interchangeably used. It is to be understood by a person having
ordinary skill in the art or a person skilled in the art that the above uses case or
10 example shall not be construed as limiting the scope of the present disclosure.
[035] At step 304 of the method 300, the one or more hardware processors
202 obtain values of electrical voltages and electrical impedances of the food item
as a function of frequency of the applied potential. At step 306 of the method 300,
the one or more hardware processors 202 derive using a trained model, a plurality
15 of features from the values of the electrical voltages and the electrical impedances
obtained, wherein the trained model is trained on an impedance spectrum and a
voltage spectrum data obtained by varying the frequency over a range of voltages
to characterize the food item and correlate with quality.
[036] As described with reference to FIG. 2, the trained model may be
20 trained on an impedance spectrum and a voltage spectrum obtained by changing the
frequency over a range of AC (alternating current) as depicted in FIG. 4 to
characterize the food item and correlate with quality. In an alternate embodiment,
the impedance spectrum and the voltage spectrum may be utilized for training a
prediction model capable of predicting the quality of various food items in real25 time. In yet another embodiment, the trained model may facilitate development of
a portable potentiostat to access the micro-electrodes externally and non-invasively
and estimate the quality of the food items on the basis of the response curves e.g.,
Nyquist plots correlated with quality of the food item such as juice, milk etc. as
depicted from FIGS. 5A through 5F. The Nyquist plots facilitate in deriving
30 features which can be correlated to the degradation of the food item via an AI
(Artificial Intelligence) based model. For example, the AI (Artificial Intelligence)
based data driven model may take Nyquist and Bode plots and features extracted in
12
correlation with food quality as inputs. In an embodiment, the method embodied in
a set of software instructions to estimate quality of a specific food item e.g., Apple
juice vs. the resulting Nyquist plot may be embodied in the potentiostat. Further,
training the model includes modelling the spoilage of the food item (for e.g., apple
5 juice) using different paradigms for machine learning feature extractions e.g.,
Autoencoders.
[037] At step 308 of the method 300, the one or more hardware processors
202 estimate the quality of the food item in real-time by co-relating the plurality of
derived features with the quality of the food item contained inside the enclosed
10 package.
[038] FIG. 4 illustrates an equivalent circuit of the food item (for e.g.,
apple juice) in conjunction with a plurality of embedded electrodes using
electrochemical impedance spectroscopy by sweeping the frequency over a range
of voltages in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.
15 Referring to FIG. 4, R1 represents a solution resistant, C1 represents a double layer
capacitance, W1 represents a Warburg impedance, R2 represents a charge transfer
resistance.
[039] FIGS. 5A through 5F shows a use case example for the simulated
results illustrating the effect of change in a Patulin concentration in an apple juice
20 contained in the enclosed package, on a Nyquist plot in accordance with some
embodiments of the present disclosure. Fruit juice usually contain sugars, organic
acids, vitamins, phenolic compounds, and the like. The concentration of the
chemical compounds present in the fruit juice usually undergo changes when
spoilage occurs in the fruit juice. In an example embodiment, consider an apple
25 juice which is a mixture of sugars (primarily fructose, glucose, and sucrose),
oligosaccharides, and polysaccharides (e.g., starch) together with malic, quinic,
citro malic acids, tannins (i.e., polyphenols), amides, other nitrogenous compounds,
soluble pectin, vitamin C, minerals, and a diverse range of esters that give the apple
juice a typical apple-like aroma (e.g., ethyl- and methyl-iso-valerate). Patulin is a
30 mycotoxin usually present in apple juices and the concentration of patulin in the
apple juice serves as an indicator of the quality of the apple juice. In an embodiment
of the present disclosure, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) is the
13
technique used to determine the concentration of patulin in the apple juice. The
possible equivalent circuit of the apple juice in conjunction with the electrodes is
illustrated in FIG. 4. As the Patulin concentration rises, the quality of the apple juice
degrades. Further, the degradation of the apple juice is observed as an increase in
5 the charge transfer resistance in the Nyquist plots as depicted in the FIGS. 5A
through 5F. Referring to the FIGS. 5A through 5F, the simulated results illustrating
the effect of the change in the Patulin concentration contained in the apple juice is
presented in the subsequent curves on the Nyquist plot. FIG. 5A depicts the change
in the Patulin concentration contained in the apple juice for the parameter values 𝑅1
10 = 500, 𝐶1= 100, 𝑅2= 8000, 𝑍𝑊= 500. FIG. 5B depicts the change in the Patulin
concentration contained in the apple juice for the parameter values 𝑅1= 500, 𝐶1=
100, 𝑅2= 12000, 𝑍𝑊= 500. FIG. 5C depicts the change in the Patulin concentration
contained in the apple juice for the parameter values 𝑅1= 500, 𝐶 = 100, 𝑅2= 18000,
𝑍𝑊= 500. FIG. 5D depicts the change in the Patulin concentration contained in the
15 apple juice for the parameter values 𝑅1= 500, 𝐶1 = 100, 𝑅2= 25000, 𝑍𝑊= 500. FIG.
5E depicts the change in the Patulin concentration contained in the apple juice for
the parameter values 𝑅1= 500, 𝐶1= 100, 𝑅2= 28000, 𝑍𝑊= 500. FIG. 5F depicts the
change in the Patulin concentration contained in the apple juice for the parameter
values 𝑅1= 500, 𝐶1= 100, 𝑅2= 35000, 𝑍𝑊= 500. It should be noted that, as the
20 concentration of the Paulin contained in the apple juice increases the quality of the
apple juice degrades which is reflected by the value R2 which represents the charge
transfer resistance as depicted in FIGS. 5A through 5F. The above-mentioned
procedure can be implemented for other biomarkers (for e.g., glucose, lactic acid,
etc.,) as well. In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the biomarker present in
25 the food item serves as an indicator for the estimation of the quality of the food item
contained in the enclosed package. It should be noted that the maximum admissible
limit of Patulin concentration is 50 µg L−1 or 50 ppb, as defined by European Union
(EU), United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Food Safety and
Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). In another example embodiment, consider
30 grape juice which contains Lactic Acid Bacteria produces lactic acid by
metabolizing sugars. Here the lactic acid concentration in the grape juice is used to
14
predict the quality or degradation of the grape juice. In the similar way, when milk
spoilage occurs the pH falls, and the lactic acid concentration increases, wherein
the lactic acid concentration may be determined using electrochemical impedance
spectroscopy (EIS). It is to be understood by a person having ordinary skill in the
5 art or a person skilled in the art that the above uses cases or examples shall not be
construed as limiting the scope of the present disclosure.
[040] FIG. 6 shows a use case example illustrating a plurality of features
derived from the Nyquist plot in accordance with some embodiments of the present
disclosure. The plurality of features derived from the Nyquist plots may include a
10 slope of the straight line, peak of the semi-circle R1, the frequency where the peak
occurs, diameter of the semi-circle and the like as depicted in FIG. 6.
[041] FIG. 7 shows a use case example illustrating the implementation of
Nyquist Plot features to differentiate between two samples of the food item which
differ in quality in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. In
15 an example embodiment, consider a Tetra Pak containing the food item (for e.g.,
apple juice) wherein the tetra Pak includes the microelectrodes etched on the
Aluminium layer of the Tetra Pak. The Potentiostat or a circuit mimicking its
behavior scans the Tetra Pak and generates the Nyquist plots. The different diameter
of the Nyquist plot indicates varying concentrations of the biomarker or the quality
20 indicator of the food item (for e.g., apple juice) contained inside the Tetra Pak. It
should be noted that the different diameters of the Nyquist plot represent the
features which differentiate between two samples of the food item (for e.g., apple
juice) obtained at different instances as depicted in FIG. 7. Once the spoilage or
degradation of the food item or the quality of the food item contained inside the
25 Tetra Pak is estimated using the trained model, the results are displayed by a display
panel comprised in the Potentiostat. In another embodiment, a mobile application
running the trained models in the background, scans the Nyquist plot and provides
insights about the quality of the food item contained inside the Tetra Pak.
[042] The written description describes the subject matter herein to enable
30 any person skilled in the art to make and use the embodiments. The scope of the
subject matter embodiments is defined by the claims and may include other
modifications that occur to those skilled in the art. Such other modifications are
15
intended to be within the scope of the claims if they have similar elements that do
not differ from the literal language of the claims or if they include equivalent
elements with insubstantial differences from the literal language of the claims.
[043] Various embodiments disclosed herein provide method and system
5 for estimating quality of food items contained in a packaged container. The
embodiments of present disclosure herein address unresolved problem of noninvasively determining the quality of packaged food items in real time.
[044] It is to be understood that the scope of the protection is extended to
such a program and in addition to a computer-readable means having a message
10 therein; such computer-readable storage means contain program-code means for
implementation of one or more steps of the method, when the program runs on a
server or mobile device or any suitable programmable device. The hardware device
can be any kind of device which can be programmed including e.g., any kind of
computer like a server or a personal computer, or the like, or any combination
15 thereof. The device may also include means which could be e.g., hardware means
like e.g., an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable
gate array (FPGA), or a combination of hardware and software means, e.g., an ASIC
and an FPGA, or at least one microprocessor and at least one memory with software
processing components located therein. Thus, the means can include both hardware
20 means and software means. The method embodiments described herein could be
implemented in hardware and software. The device may also include software
means. Alternatively, the embodiments may be implemented on different hardware
devices, e.g., using a plurality of CPUs.
[045] The embodiments herein can comprise hardware and software
25 elements. The embodiments that are implemented in software include but are not
limited to, firmware, resident software, microcode, etc. The functions performed by
various components described herein may be implemented in other components or
combinations of other components. For the purposes of this description, a
computer-usable or computer readable medium can be any apparatus that can
30 comprise, store, communicate, propagate, or transport the program for use by or in
connection with the instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.
16
[046] The illustrated steps are set out to explain the exemplary
embodiments shown, and it should be anticipated that ongoing technological
development will change the manner in which particular functions are performed.
These examples are presented herein for purposes of illustration, and not limitation.
5 Further, the boundaries of the functional building blocks have been arbitrarily
defined herein for the convenience of the description. Alternative boundaries can
be defined so long as the specified functions and relationships thereof are
appropriately performed. Alternatives (including equivalents, extensions,
variations, deviations, etc., of those described herein) will be apparent to persons
10 skilled in the relevant art(s) based on the teachings contained herein. Such
alternatives fall within the scope of the disclosed embodiments. Also, the words
“comprising,” “having,” “containing,” and “including,” and other similar forms are
intended to be equivalent in meaning and be open ended in that an item or items
following any one of these words is not meant to be an exhaustive listing of such
15 item or items, or meant to be limited to only the listed item or items. It must also be
noted that as used herein and in the appended claims, the singular forms “a,” “an,”
and “the” include plural references unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.
[047] Furthermore, one or more computer-readable storage media may be
utilized in implementing embodiments consistent with the present disclosure. A
20 computer-readable storage medium refers to any type of physical memory on which
information or data readable by a processor may be stored. Thus, a computerreadable storage medium may store instructions for execution by one or more
processors, including instructions for causing the processor(s) to perform steps or
stages consistent with the embodiments described herein. The term “computer25 readable medium” should be understood to include tangible items and exclude
carrier waves and transient signals, i.e., be non-transitory. Examples include
random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), volatile memory,
nonvolatile memory, hard drives, CD ROMs, DVDs, flash drives, disks, and any
other known physical storage media.
30 [048] It is intended that the disclosure and examples be considered as
exemplary only, with a true scope of disclosed embodiments being indicated by the
following claims.
17
18
We Claim:
1. A processor implemented method (300), comprising:
applying, via one or more hardware processors, a potential over a plurality
of frequencies through a food item contained inside an enclosed package using
5 electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (302);
obtaining, via the one or more hardware processors, values of electrical
voltages and electrical impedances of the food item as a function of frequency of
the applied potential (304);
deriving, using a trained model via the one or more hardware processors, a
10 plurality of features from the values of the electrical voltages and the electrical
impedances obtained, wherein the trained model is trained on an impedance
spectrum and a voltage spectrum data obtained by varying the frequency over a
range of voltages to characterize the food item and correlate with quality (306); and
estimating, via the one or more hardware processors, the quality of the food
15 item in real-time by co-relating the plurality of derived features with the quality of
the food item contained inside the enclosed package (308).
2. The processor implemented method of claim 1, wherein the enclosed
package comprises of a plurality of layers which includes a plurality of
20 polyethylene layers and a conducting layer arranged between two adjacent
polyethylene layers.
3. The processor implemented method of claim 2, wherein the conducting
layer comprised in the enclosed package further comprises of functionalized micro25 electrodes configured therein to determine the variation in applied potential over
the plurality of frequencies associated with the food item.
4. A system (200), comprising:
a memory (204) storing instructions;
30 one or more communication interfaces (206); and
one or more hardware processors (202) coupled to the memory (204) via the
one or more communication interfaces (206), wherein the one or more hardware
processors (202) are configured by the instructions to:
19
apply, a potential over a plurality of frequencies through a food item
contained inside an enclosed package using electrochemical impedance
spectroscopy;
obtain, values of electrical voltages and electrical impedances of the food
5 item as a function of frequency of the applied potential;
derive, using a trained model, a plurality of features from the values of the
electrical voltages and the electrical impedances obtained, wherein the trained
model is trained on an impedance spectrum and a voltage spectrum data obtained
by varying the frequency over a range of voltages to characterize the food item and
10 correlate with quality; and
estimate, the quality of the food item in real-time by corelating the plurality
of derived features with the quality of the food item contained inside the enclosed
package.
15 5. The system of claim 4, wherein the enclosed package comprises of a
plurality of layers which includes a plurality of polyethylene layers and a
conducting layer arranged between two adjacent polyethylene layers.
6. The system of claim 5, wherein the conducting layer comprised in the
20 enclosed package further comprises of functionalized micro-electrodes configured
therein to determine the variation in applied potential over the plurality of
frequencies associated with the food item.