Reflected Light Spectrometry and AI-Based Data Analysis for Detection of Rapid Chicken Eggshell Change Caused by Mycoplasma Synoviae

Anna Pakuła,Olimpia Kursa,Robert Komar,Sławomir Paśko

doi:10.3390/app11177799

Abstract

Mycoplasma synoviae (MS) is a pathogen that causes economic losses in the poultry industry. It can be transmitted, amongst others, via the respiratory tract and spread relatively quickly. As such, MS infections are mainly controlled by maintaining MS-free breeder flocks. Routine diagnosis for the detection of MS may be based on serological, culture, and molecular tests. Here, we propose an optical solution where AI-based analysis of spectral data obtained from the light reflected from the eggshells is used to determine whether they originate from healthy or Mycoplasma synoviae-infected hens. The wavelengths proposed for spectral MS detection are limited to those of VIS and NIR DPSS lasers, which are freely accessible on market. The results are satisfactory: for white eggshells, the F-score is over 95% for five different combinations of wavelengths (using eight or nine wavelengths); for brown eggshells, the F-score is above 85%, also for five different combinations of 6–9 wavelengths.

Highlights

M. synoviae is a member of the genus Mycoplasma of the class Mollicutes, a group of wall-less Gram-positive bacteria causing economic losses in the poultry industry
The samples from the healthy subgroups originated from the inner reference flock of the National Veterinary Research Institute (NVRI), while the Mycoplasma synoviae (MS)-infected eggs originated from commercial flocks that were under the veterinary supervision of the NVRI and were confirmed by three techniques: a specific MS polymerase chain reaction (PCR) [17,18,21], LAMP [19], and sequencing of the vlhA gene [20,21]
The radial basis function (RBF)-based Support vector machine (SVM) algorithm is highly susceptible to the different magnitudes of the individual features submitted for learning

Summary

Introduction

M. synoviae is a member of the genus Mycoplasma of the class Mollicutes, a group of wall-less Gram-positive bacteria causing economic losses in the poultry industry. It is one of the major avian pathogenic agents and has a multifactorial etiology that involves complex interactions amongst pathogen, host, and environmental factors [1]. Poultry healthcare problems in this global industry associated with M. synoviae infections are related to respiratory infections, arthropathic problems, and strains causing eggshell pathology [1,2,3,4]. The deterioration in the quality of eggshells causes significant losses in the egg industry [5,6]. Any infection of the reproductive system of a laying hen can affect the quality of the eggs and eggshells [7]

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion