Foreign object detection by sub-terahertz quasi-Bessel beam imaging

Sensors (Basel). 2012 Dec 20;13(1):71-85. doi: 10.3390/s130100071.

Abstract

Food quality monitoring, particularly foreign object detection, has recently become a critical issue for the food industry. In contrast to X-ray imaging, terahertz imaging can provide a safe and ionizing-radiation-free nondestructive inspection method for foreign object sensing. In this work, a quasi-Bessel beam (QBB) known to be nondiffracting was generated by a conical dielectric lens to detect foreign objects in food samples. Using numerical evaluation via the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method, the beam profiles of a QBB were evaluated and compared with the results obtained via analytical calculation and experimental characterization (knife edge method, point scanning method). The FDTD method enables a more precise estimation of the beam profile. Foreign objects in food samples, namely crickets, were then detected with the QBB, which had a deep focus and a high spatial resolution at 210 GHz. Transmitted images using a Gaussian beam obtained with a conventional lens were compared in the sub-terahertz frequency experimentally with those using a QBB generated using an axicon.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Algorithms
  • Animals
  • Equipment Design
  • Flour
  • Food Contamination*
  • Food Industry / instrumentation*
  • Food Industry / methods
  • Gryllidae
  • Models, Theoretical
  • Normal Distribution
  • Scattering, Radiation
  • Terahertz Imaging / methods*