JPH10253603A - Body egg detection device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] In an in-fish egg detecting device, a determination error is reduced, and measurement with high accuracy and reproducibility is realized. SOLUTION: The living body includes a means for transferring a living individual, a transmitting / receiving means for transmitting / receiving an ultrasonic pulse to / from a predetermined portion of the living individual, and a means for performing signal processing on a signal received by the transmitting / receiving unit, and the living body such as a fish An ultrasonic pulse is emitted to the abdomen, and the presence or absence of an egg in the individual organism is determined by analyzing the reflected echo in the organism. The biological body is scanned using the pulse reflection method, the collected data is subjected to frequency analysis, and the presence or absence of fish eggs is determined based on the spatial frequency. .

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an in-vivo egg detecting apparatus for determining the presence or absence of an egg in an individual organism, particularly the presence or absence of a mature ovary of a fish such as salmon by an ultrasonic pulse reflection method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a method for inspecting the presence or absence of ovaries in fish, a method described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 62-138749 is known. FIG. 10 shows the configuration of a conventional fish egg detecting device.
In FIG. 10, reference numeral 1 denotes a transmission circuit that generates an electric pulse;
2 is a probe for converting the electric pulse generated by the transmission circuit 1 into an ultrasonic wave, 3 is a fish body, 4 is a metal plate, 5 is a reception circuit,
6 is a signal processing circuit, and 7 is a discrimination circuit. Next, the operation of the conventional fish egg detecting device will be described with reference to FIG.

The transmission circuit 1 generates a transmission pulse under the control of a timing circuit (not shown) and outputs the pulse to the probe 2. In the probe 2, the electric pulse is converted into an ultrasonic pulse and emitted to the fish 3. The ultrasonic waves that have passed through the fish body 3 are reflected by the metal plate 4 and return to the probe 2. The probe 2 converts the input ultrasonic pulse into an electric pulse, and the electric pulse is appropriately amplified by the receiving circuit 5 and then input to the signal processing circuit 6. The signal processing circuit 6 cuts an echo reflected on the metal plate 4 and a signal in the vicinity thereof by applying a time window to the input signal, performs a frequency analysis, and calculates an attenuation characteristic.
The determination circuit 7 determines the presence or absence of a fish egg from the attenuation characteristic and outputs the result.

[0004]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional in-vivo egg detection apparatus, since the detection method based on the ultrasonic transmission method is employed, information in the depth direction is lost, and the detection accuracy is insufficient. There was a problem that there is.

The present invention solves the above-mentioned conventional problems, and collects information inside a biological solid such as a fish while transferring the biological solid at a high speed to determine the presence or absence of an egg in an individual with high accuracy. An object of the present invention is to provide an excellent in-vivo egg detection device for determination.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a means for transferring a living individual, a transmitting / receiving means for transmitting / receiving an ultrasonic pulse to / from a predetermined portion of the living individual, It has means for signal processing of a received signal, and determines the presence or absence of an egg in the living individual. With such a configuration, an excellent in-vivo egg detection device is provided which collects information inside the biological solid in a two-dimensional manner while transferring the biological solid at a high speed, and determines the presence or absence of an egg in a biological individual with high accuracy.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention according to claim 1 of the present invention provides means for transferring a biological individual, transmitting / receiving means for transmitting / receiving an ultrasonic pulse to / from a predetermined portion of the biological individual, and receiving / receiving the transmitting / receiving part. A signal processing means is provided for signal processing to determine the presence or absence of an egg in the living individual, and has the effect of being able to determine the presence or absence of a fish egg at high speed and with high accuracy.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the in-vivo egg detecting apparatus according to the first aspect, a living individual is transferred to a different route based on the determination result of the presence or absence of an egg. It has the effect that the presence or absence of fish eggs can be checked at high speed and with high accuracy, and only those having fish eggs can be collected.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the in-vivo egg detecting apparatus according to the first aspect, a plurality of transmitting / receiving means are provided at different locations of the means for transferring a living individual, and the plurality of transmitting / receiving means When at least one of a plurality of signal processing results for a plurality of outputs is determined to be an egg, the corresponding organism individual is determined to be an egg,
This has the effect that the presence or absence of a fish egg can be determined at high speed and with high accuracy.

[0010] According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the in-vivo egg detecting apparatus according to the first aspect, a sound propagation liquid is supplied to a means for transferring a living individual.
It has the effect of enhancing the acoustic consistency between the living individual and the device, and being able to quickly and accurately determine the presence or absence of a fish egg.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the in-vivo egg detecting apparatus according to the first aspect, the means for processing the received signal comprises a frequency analyzing section and a spatial frequency level determining means. This has the effect that the determination of the presence or absence of a fish egg can be performed by an unmanned person.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the in-vivo egg detecting apparatus according to the fifth aspect, the level of the spatial frequency corresponding to the size of the egg is determined.
This has the effect that the determination of the presence or absence of a fish egg can be performed unattended and accurately.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the in-vivo egg detecting apparatus according to the first aspect, the means for performing signal processing on the received signal is based on a band-pass filter. It has the effect that it can be performed with high accuracy.

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the in-vivo egg detecting apparatus according to the seventh aspect, a change in the intensity of a signal having a cycle corresponding to the size of an egg is detected. This has the effect that the determination of the presence or absence of can be performed unattended and accurately.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in the in-vivo egg detecting apparatus according to the first aspect, the means for performing signal processing on the received signal is based on frequency analysis of the luminance signal. Can be performed accurately and unattended.

According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in the in-vivo egg detecting apparatus according to the first aspect, the means for transferring a living individual comprises a gutter-like structure.
This has the effect that the movement of a living individual at the time of discrimination can be performed easily.

According to an eleventh aspect of the present invention, in the in-vivo egg detecting apparatus according to the tenth aspect, there is provided a means for detecting a speed at which a living individual is transferred through a gutter-like structure. This has the effect that the movement of a living individual at the time of discrimination can be performed easily.

According to a twelfth aspect of the present invention, in the in-vivo egg detecting apparatus according to the eleventh aspect, the transmitting and receiving means is provided in a gutter-like structure. This has the effect that the discrimination can be performed smoothly.

According to a thirteenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the in-vivo egg detecting apparatus according to the first aspect, wherein the means for transporting the living individual comprises a moving tray-like structure. This has the effect that the transfer of a living individual at the time can be easily performed.

According to a fourteenth aspect of the present invention, in the in-body egg detecting apparatus according to the thirteenth aspect, the sound wave generation detecting part of the transmitting / receiving means moves at substantially the same speed as the tray-like structure. This has the effect that the determination of the presence or absence of a fish egg can be performed more accurately.

According to a fifteenth aspect of the present invention, in the in-vivo egg detecting apparatus according to the first aspect, the sound wave generation detecting portion of the transmitting / receiving means reciprocates in a predetermined section, and is moved with respect to a tray-like structure. After moving at the same speed and returning a predetermined section, it moves at the same speed to another tray-shaped structure, which is suitable for discriminating a large number of living organisms in a short time Has an action.

According to a sixteenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an in-vivo egg detecting apparatus comprising: a plurality of means for transferring a biological individual; and a plurality of transmitting / receiving means for transmitting / receiving an ultrasonic pulse to / from a predetermined portion of the biological individual. A selection means for selecting the reception signals of the plurality of transmission and reception units, and a means for processing the output signal of the selection means, to determine the presence or absence of an egg in the biological individual, It has the effect of being suitable for discriminating a large number of living individuals at a time.

According to a seventeenth aspect of the present invention, in the in-vivo egg detecting device according to the first aspect, the determination result of the presence or absence of an egg includes three types of results, that is, an egg, an eggless, and an undeterminable. This has the effect that highly accurate discrimination can be performed.

(Embodiment 1) An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a fish egg detecting device as an in-vivo egg detecting device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, 1
Is a transmission circuit that generates an electric pulse, 2 is a probe that converts the electric pulse generated by the transmission circuit 1 into an ultrasonic wave while converting an ultrasonic pulse that is reflected from a subject and is input into an electric pulse, and 3 is a probe. A fish body as a biological solid, 5 is a receiving circuit for receiving an electric pulse converted from a reflected pulse in the probe 2, and 6 is an analog / digital (A /
D) a signal processing circuit for converting and performing signal processing, 7 is a determination circuit, 8 is a control circuit for controlling the operation of the entire device,
9 is a sensor for detecting the position of the moving fish, 10 is a sorter, and 11 is a gutter.

Next, the operation of the fish egg detecting apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In this embodiment, the fish body 3 is placed on the gutter 11 in a lying state (different from the shape in FIG. 1), and moves from the right side of the drawing to the left side (for example, from the head to the tail). A probe 2 is disposed at a predetermined position below a gutter 11 that is in the path of the abdomen of the fish body 3, and transmits an ultrasonic pulse to the fish body 3 and receives a reflected pulse. Therefore, in the description referring to FIG. 2 described later, the “depth direction” refers to the direction from one flank to the other flank with respect to the fish body 3, and the “lateral direction” refers to the movement of the fish body 3. Refers to the direction. As a method of moving the fish body 3, use of a moving machine such as a belt conveyor, or use of natural fall by gravity by inclining a gutter can be considered. The use of an acoustic propagation material or other water, for example, for the moving means is advantageous in enhancing the acoustic coupling between the fish body 3 and the probe 2 as described later. The fish 9 moving on the gutter 11 is detected by the sensor 9 as being located on the probe 2, the information is transmitted to the control circuit 8, and the fish egg discrimination system is started.

First, the transmission circuit 1 generates a transmission pulse under the control of the control circuit 8 and outputs it to the probe 2. In the probe 2, the electric pulse is converted into an ultrasonic pulse and emitted to the fish 3 that moves relatively to the probe 2. The ultrasonic waves radiated to the fish 3 are reflected by the internal organs, fish eggs, and fish meat in the fish and return to the probe 2. The probe 2 converts the input ultrasonic pulse into an electric pulse, and the electric pulse is appropriately amplified by the receiving circuit 5 and then input to the signal processing circuit 6. The signal processing circuit 6 A / D converts the data and stores the data for use in signal processing. The transmission and reception of the ultrasonic pulse are performed several times or several tens of times by storing the data in the signal processing circuit 6 by generating the transmission pulse while changing the position of the fish body 3. The position information of these captures is detected by the sensor 9 and stored as additional information of the captured echo information. Ideally, captures are performed at equal intervals in a linear direction. Such a method of measurement is called a pulse reflection method.

The echo captured by such a pulse reflection method can be observed as an image as shown in FIG. 2 by displaying a tomographic image used in a medical ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus. FIG. 2 is a tomographic image of the abdomen of salmon constructed based on the received signal obtained by the ultrasonic pulse reflection method, and the pulse frequency is 7.5 MHz. FIG. 2A is a tomographic image of a female abdomen having mature ovaries, which is about 10 mm to 20 mm in the depth direction.
The ovaries are shown extending in the lateral direction in the range between just over mm. Eggs having a diameter of about 5 mm are present in the ovaries, but a pulse having a pulse frequency of 7.5 MHz has a weak intensity of reflected ultrasonic waves from the inside of these eggs and is indicated by a black area of several mm in the figure. On the other hand, a relatively strong reflected signal is obtained from the skin of the egg, and as a result, as shown in FIG. 2A, the ovary is displayed as a two-dimensional image in which the luminance greatly changes in a cycle of several mm. In addition, a return wall is shown above and below the ovary, and a uniform reflection signal is obtained from that portion as compared with the ovary. FIG. 2B is a tomographic image of the male abdomen, and the scale and directional distance are the same as those in FIG. 2A. In the case of this male, the testis is displayed at a depth of about 10 mm to about 20 mm. The reflected signal from the testis is uniform compared to the ovary.
FIG. 2B shows an image of a bone and a shadow area due to the influence of the bone. However, if the brightness is limited to the depth direction inside the testis, the change in luminance is extremely smaller than that of the ovary. As mentioned above,
The ovary and testis of mature fish have different sound reflection characteristics, and can be distinguished by signal processing or image processing.

Next, the above-mentioned received signal processing circuit 6
Will be described. FIG. 3 shows a block diagram of the signal processing circuit 6. In FIG. 3, an A / D converter 20 converts a detection signal into digital data. Memory 21
Stores the output of the A / D converter 20. The input average processing section 22 calculates an average value of the detection signal output from the memory 21 and removes the average value from the detection signal. The frequency analysis unit 23 calculates the power spectrum of the detection signal from which the average value output from the input average processing unit 22 has been removed, and performs a Fourier transform operation or the like. The output averaging section 24 averages the power spectrum output from the frequency analysis section 23 and includes an adder and the like. The level determination unit 25 determines the average power spectrum data of the output average processing unit 24, and outputs three states of egg, eggless, and indistinguishable. The signal processing control unit 26 controls the operation of the memory 21 and other operation units based on the abdomen position signal and the depth data.

The operation of the signal processing circuit 6 configured as described above will be described. The detection signal output from the detector is converted into digital data by the A / D converter 20. The sampling frequency of the A / D conversion unit 20 is selected to be a diameter corresponding to the diameter of an egg, in this case, an interval capable of resolving about 5 mm, that is, a frequency corresponding to an interval of 2.5 mm or less. The digital data converted by the A / D converter 20 is stored in the memory 21. The data stored in the memory 21 is data transmitted and received in a portion corresponding to the abdomen of the fish body 3, and the signal processing control unit controls the storage in the memory 21 based on the abdomen position signal. The digital data stored in the memory 21 is read in the depth direction, an average value is obtained in the input average processing section 22, and the average value obtained from the digital data is removed. The detection signal output from the input averaging processing unit 22 from which the average value has been removed is subjected to Fourier transform in the frequency analysis unit 23, and the power spectrum is calculated. At this time, the digital data of the memory 21 corresponding to the depth where the ovaries exist may be read out, except for the data of the abdominal wall portion, based on the depth data. The power spectrum calculated by the frequency analysis unit 23 is added and averaged by the output averaging processing unit 24, and further, the input averaging processing unit 2
2 is normalized by the average value output from 2, and output as an average power spectrum.

FIG. 4 shows an output example of the average power spectrum of the output average processing section 24. FIG. 4A shows an example of the average power spectrum of the ovary, in which a local maximum occurs near the spatial frequency corresponding to the size of the egg. On the other hand, FIG. 4B is an example of the average power spectrum of the testis, and unlike the case of the ovary, there is no maximum in a portion corresponding to the size of the egg. The average power spectrum output of the output averaging unit 24 is determined by the level determination unit 25 to indicate whether there is an egg, no egg, or no determination.
Determined by species. The following <11> to <14> are examples of the determination algorithm of the level determination unit 25. <11>: The average power spectrum output is approximated by a quadratic function by the method of least squares, and a quadratic function f (K) = aK ² + bK ¹ + ck relating to the spatial frequency K is obtained. <12>: When f (K) has a local maximum near the spatial frequency corresponding to the size of the egg and the local maximum is equal to or more than “threshold X1” →
Egg present <13>; when f (K) is less than or equal to “threshold X2” in the vicinity of the spatial frequency corresponding to the size of the egg → no egg <14>; not <12> or <13> → Unable to determine Here, the spatial frequency corresponding to the size of the egg, “Threshold X1” of <12> and “Threshold X2” of <13> are given by the determination information. As described above, the determination output is obtained in the level determination unit 25. Here, the values of “threshold value X1” and “threshold value X2” may be equal. In this case, the determination cannot be made.

The threshold value can be set by a human being input in advance from the outside or by the system learning by repeatedly obtaining the maximum value of <12> or the maximum value of <13> for male and female individuals. . In the above example, the digital data stored in the memory 21 is read in the depth direction, but may be read in the same depth direction, that is, in the horizontal direction in FIG. When the vertical relationship of the fish is not constant, transmission and reception may be performed at two locations corresponding to the abdomen and the back, and the OR logic of the determination output may be obtained.
In this case, if one of the two judgment outputs is an egg,
It is determined that there is an egg. In other cases, if one of the determination outputs indicates that the determination is impossible, the determination is impossible.

Next, a discrimination method using a bandpass filter instead of the frequency analysis unit 23 will be described. FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a signal processing unit. In FIG.
0 converts the detection signal into digital data. The memory 21 stores the output of the A / D converter 20. The input average processing section 22 calculates an average value of the detection signal output from the memory 21 and removes the average value from the detection signal. The bandpass filter 27 is for obtaining the spatial frequency characteristic of the detection signal output from the input averaging processing unit 22, and is constituted by a digital filter. Normalization processing unit 2
Numeral 8 squares the filter output output from the bandpass filter 27 and normalizes the squared output with the average output of the input average processing unit 22, and is composed of a multiplier / divider and the like. The level determination unit 25 determines the normalized output of the normalization processing unit 28, and outputs three states of egg, eggless, and indistinguishable. The signal processing control unit 26 controls the operation of the memory 21 and other operation units based on the abdomen position signal and the depth data.

The operation of the signal processing unit configured as described above will be described. The detection signal output from the detector is converted into digital data by the A / D converter 20. The sampling frequency of the A / D converter 20 is an egg diameter, in this case, an interval at which about 5 mm can be resolved, 2.5
A frequency corresponding to an interval equal to or less than mm is selected. The digital data converted by the A / D converter 20 is stored in the memory 2
1 is stored. The data stored in the memory 21 is data transmitted and received in a portion corresponding to the abdomen of the fish 3,
The signal processing control unit controls the storage of the moly 21 based on the abdominal position signal. The digital data stored in the memory 21 is read in the depth direction, an average value is obtained in the input average processing section 22, and the average value obtained from the digital data is removed. The detection signal from which the average value output from the input average processing unit 22 has been removed is output to the bandpass filter 2.
At 7, the filter output is determined. At this time, the digital data of the memory 21 corresponding to the depth where the ovaries exist may be read out, excluding the data of the abdominal wall portion by the depth data. In the normalization processing unit 28, the filter output calculated by the bandpass filter 27 is normalized by the average output of the input averaging processing unit 22, and output as a normalized output.

FIG. 6 shows an output example of the bandpass filter 27.
FIG. 6A shows an example of ovarian band-pass filter output, and a large output is obtained in a section corresponding to the size of an egg. On the other hand, FIG. 6B is an example of a testis band filter output.
Output is small unlike ovary. Normalization processing unit 28
Are output by the level determination unit 25,
It is determined as three types that cannot be determined. The following <21> to <24
> Is an example of the determination algorithm of the level determination unit 25. <21>: When the normalized output is larger than “threshold value Y1” → with egg <22>; When the normalized output is smaller than “threshold value Y2” → without egg <23>;<22> and <23 If it is not> → determination impossible Here, “threshold Y1” of <21> and “threshold Y2” of <22> are given by the determination information. In addition, “Threshold Y
"1" and "threshold Y2" may be the same value. In that case, the determination cannot be made. As described above, the determination output is obtained in the level determination unit 25. The setting of the threshold value can be set by the system learning beforehand by a person inputting from the outside or by repeatedly obtaining the maximum value of <22> or the maximum value of <23> for male and female individuals.

Next, a determination method using a histogram will be described. FIG. 7 is a block diagram of the signal processing unit. In FIG. 7, the A / D conversion unit 20 converts a detection signal into digital data. The memory 21 stores the output of the A / D converter 20. The high-frequency removing section 29 removes high-frequency components of the detection signal stored in the memory 21 and is configured by a low-pass filter. Distribution processing unit 3
0 is for obtaining the frequency distribution of the value of the low-frequency data output by the high-frequency removing unit 29. The shape determining unit 31 determines the frequency distribution data of the distribution processing unit 10 and outputs three states of egg, eggless, and indistinguishable. The signal processing control unit 26 controls the operation of the memory 21 and other operation units based on the abdomen position signal and the depth data.

The operation of the signal processing unit configured as described above will be described. The detection signal output from the detector is converted into digital data by the A / D converter 20. The sampling frequency of the A / D converter 20 is an egg diameter, in this case, an interval at which about 5 mm can be resolved, 2.5
A frequency corresponding to an interval equal to or less than mm is selected. The digital data converted by the A / D converter 20 is stored in the memory 2
1 is stored. The data stored in the memory 21 is data transmitted and received in a portion corresponding to the abdomen of the fish 3,
The signal processing control unit controls storage in the memory 21 based on the abdomen position signal. The digital data stored in the memory 21 is read out in the depth direction, the high frequency component is removed by the high frequency remover 29, and the low frequency data is calculated. At this time, the memory 2 corresponding to the depth at which the ovary exists, based on the depth data
One digital data may be read. The low-frequency data calculated by the high-frequency removing unit 29 is determined by the distribution processing unit 30 between the amplitude and the frequency of occurrence, and frequency distribution data is output.

FIG. 8 shows an output example of the distribution processing unit 4. FIG.
(A) is an example of the frequency distribution data of the ovary, in which a local maximum occurs near the spatial frequency corresponding to the size of the egg. on the other hand,
FIG. 8B shows an example of testis frequency distribution data. Unlike the case of the ovaries, there is no local maximum in a portion corresponding to the size of an egg. The frequency distribution data output of the distribution processing unit 30 is determined by the shape determination unit 31 into three types: egg presence, egg absence, and determination failure. The following <31> to <34> are examples of the determination algorithm of the level determination unit Z5. <31>: The frequency distribution data output is approximated by a cubic function by the least squares method, and a cubic function f (X) = aX ³ + bX ² + cX + d relating to the amplitude X is obtained. <32>: f (X) has a local maximum and a local minimum on the lower frequency side → Egg present <33>: With respect to the coefficient of f (X), the absolute value of b / a is “threshold Z1” and c If the absolute value of / a is greater than “threshold value Z2” → no egg <34>; not <32> or <33> → indeterminable Here, the spatial frequency corresponding to the egg size of <32>, The “threshold value Z1” and “threshold value Z2” of <33> are given by the determination information.

The threshold value can be set in advance by a person input from the outside or by the system learning by repeatedly obtaining the maximum value of <32> or the maximum value of <33> for male and female individuals. . As a result of the above signal processing, the presence or absence of a fish egg is determined, and the control circuit
Information is transmitted to the sorting machine 10, and the fish 3 is sorted based on the presence or absence of a fish egg. In the above embodiment, if the presence or absence of a fish egg is not clear, the sorting machine 1
In the case of 0, the fish are classified into three types: fish eggs present, fish eggs not present, and unknown.

(Embodiment 2) FIG. 9 is a block diagram of a fish egg detecting apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 9, 1 is a transmission circuit for generating an electric pulse, and 2 is a probe for converting the electric pulse generated by the transmission circuit 1 into an ultrasonic wave while converting an ultrasonic pulse reflected from a subject and inputted into an electric pulse. Tendon, 3 is a fish body as a biological solid,
A receiving circuit 5 receives an electric pulse converted from a reflected pulse in the probe 2, a signal processing circuit 6 performs analog-to-digital (A / D) conversion of the received signal and performs signal processing, a reference numeral 7 denotes a determination circuit, and a reference numeral 8 Is a control circuit for controlling the operation of the whole apparatus, 9 is a sensor for detecting the position of the moving fish, 10 is a sorting machine, 11 is a gutter, and 12 is a tray for storing fish.

Next, the operation of the fish egg detecting apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. The fish body 3 is placed on the tray 12 on the gutter 11 and moves from the right side of the drawing. The method of installing the fish body 3 on the gutter 11 is the same as in the case of the first embodiment. As a moving method, a moving machine such as a belt conveyor, or the use of natural fall by gravity by inclining the gutter 11 can be considered. The use of a sound-propagating material, for example, water, for the moving means is advantageous in enhancing the acoustic coupling between the fish body 3 and the probe 2 as described later. The fish 9 on the tray 12 that has moved along the gutter 11 is detected by the sensor 9 to be located on the probe 2, the information is transmitted to the control circuit 8, and the fish egg discrimination system is started. First, the transmission circuit 1 generates a transmission pulse under the control of the control circuit 8 and outputs it to the probe 2. In the probe 2, the electric pulse is converted into an ultrasonic pulse and emitted to the fish 3. In this embodiment, the tray 1
The probe 2 is made of a material that does not affect the transmission of the ultrasonic wave to the fish 3, or the probe 2 has a structure that descends from the upper part of the tray 12 and adheres to the fish 3. The ultrasonic waves radiated from the fish 3 are reflected by the internal organs, fish eggs and fish meat in the fish and return to the probe 2. The probe 2 converts the input ultrasonic pulse into an electric pulse, and the electric pulse is appropriately amplified by the receiving circuit 5 and then input to the signal processing circuit 6. Signal processing circuit 6
Then, the data is A / D converted and stored for use in signal processing.

Embodiment 1 describes how to transmit and receive ultrasonic pulses, how to display a tomographic image of an echo captured by the pulse reflection method (FIG. 2), and how to process and change the received signal. It is omitted because it is the same as.

The portion including the probe 2 for detecting the sound wave generation is movable, and moves in accordance with the movement of the fish body 3 at the same speed as the tray following a certain tray. It is also possible to return to a predetermined position and follow the next tray. According to this method, it is considered that fish eggs can be detected at higher speed.

[0043]

As described above, according to the present invention, there are provided means for transferring a biological individual, transmitting and receiving means for transmitting and receiving an ultrasonic pulse to and from a predetermined portion of the biological individual, and transmitting a signal received by the transmitting and receiving unit to a signal. It has means for processing, emits an ultrasonic pulse to the abdomen of a living body such as a fish, and analyzes the reflected echo in the living body, so as to determine the presence or absence of an egg in the living body, at a high speed In addition, the effect that the presence or absence of the egg in the body can be determined with high accuracy can be obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a fish egg detecting device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of an image obtained by a pulse echo method according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a first signal processing method according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a frequency spectrum output according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a second signal processing method according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a bandpass filter output according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a third signal processing method according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of a frequency distribution output according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram of a fish egg detecting device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram of a fish egg detecting device according to a conventional example of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Transmitting circuit 2 Probe 3 Fish body 4 Metal plate 5 Receiving circuit 6 Signal processing circuit 7 Discrimination circuit 8 Control circuit 9 Sensor 10 Sorting machine 11 Gutter 12 Tray 20 A / D converter 21 Memory 22 Input averaging processing part 23 Frequency analysis Unit 24 output average processing unit 25 level determination unit 26 signal processing control unit 27 band filter unit 28 normalization processing unit 29 high frequency removal unit 30 distribution processing unit 31 shape determination unit

Claims (17)

[Claims] A transmitting means for transmitting / receiving an ultrasonic pulse to / from a predetermined portion of the biological individual; and a means for processing a signal received by the transmitting / receiving unit. An in-vivo egg detection device that determines the presence or absence of an egg in the body. 2. The in-vivo egg detecting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the living individual is transferred to a different route based on the result of the determination of the presence or absence of an egg in the living individual. 3. A case in which a plurality of transmission / reception means are provided at different places of the means for transferring a living individual, and at least one of a plurality of signal processing results for a plurality of outputs of the plurality of transmission / reception means is determined to be egg. 2. The in-vivo egg detecting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the target organism is determined to be an egg. 4. The in-vivo egg detecting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the sound wave propagating liquid is supplied to the means for transferring the living individual. 5. The in-vivo egg detecting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the means for processing the received signal comprises a frequency analyzing section and a spatial frequency level determining means. 6. The in-vivo egg detecting apparatus according to claim 5, wherein a level of a spatial frequency corresponding to an egg size is determined. 7. The in-vivo egg detecting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the means for processing the received signal is a bandpass filter. 8. The in-vivo egg detecting device according to claim 7, wherein a change in the intensity of a signal having a cycle corresponding to the size of the egg is detected. 9. The in-vivo egg detecting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the means for processing the received signal is a frequency distribution analysis of a luminance signal. 10. The in-vivo egg detecting device according to claim 1, wherein the means for transferring the living individual comprises a gutter-like structure. 11. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising means for detecting a speed at which the individual organism is transferred through the gutter-like structure.
The in-vivo egg detection device according to 0. 12. The in-vivo egg detecting apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the transmitting / receiving means is provided on a gutter-like structure. 13. The in-vivo egg detecting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the means for transferring the living individual comprises a tray-like structure that moves. 14. The in-vivo egg detecting apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the sound wave generation detecting section of the transmitting / receiving means moves at substantially the same speed as the tray-like structure. 15. The sound wave generation detecting section of the transmission / reception means reciprocates in a predetermined section, moves at the same speed with respect to a certain tray-like structure, and then returns the predetermined section to another tray-like structure. The in-vivo egg detecting device according to claim 1, wherein the in-vivo egg detecting device moves at the same speed. 16. A plurality of means for transferring a biological individual, a plurality of transmitting / receiving means for transmitting / receiving an ultrasonic pulse to / from a predetermined portion of the biological individual, a selecting means for selecting a reception signal of the plurality of transmitting / receiving units, and An in-vivo egg detection device, comprising: means for performing signal processing on an output signal of the selection means, and determining the presence or absence of an egg in the living individual. 17. The in-vivo egg detecting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the determination result of the presence or absence of the egg includes three types of results, that is, an egg, an eggless, and an undeterminable.