Biotechnology

ProVision Technologies, a NASA research partnership center at Sternis Space Center in Mississippi, has developed a new hyperspectral imaging (HSI) system that is much smaller than the original large units used aboard remote sensing aircraft and satellites. The new apparatus is about the size of a breadbox. Health-related applications of HSI include scanning chickens during processing to help prevent contaminated food from getting to the table. ProVision is working with Sanderson Farms of Mississippi and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. ProVision has a record in its spectral library of the unique spectral signature of fecal contamination, so chickens can be scanned and those with a positive reading can be separated. HSI sensors can also determine the quantity of surface contamination. Research in this application is quite advanced, and ProVision is working on a licensing agreement for the technology. The potential for future use of this equipment in food processing and food safety is enormous.