RESEARCH - DEVELOPMENT - TECHNOLOGY

Biotronics has been active in the development of ultrasound image capturing and interpretation systems to assist in the genetic improvement of food animals since 1998. Biotronics began with software to support the beef industry and added software designed for pork in 2007 with BioSoft Toolbox. In 2006, Biotronics initiated a series of research projects aimed at improving the ability to use real-time ultrasound images captured from live swine to predict percentage intramuscular fat (IMF) in the loin muscle. In 2014, Biotronics developed BioQScan, a commercial system that is used to scan hot carcasses in pork packing plants to automatically provide accurate back fat and loin muscle depth predictions as well as %IMF in the loin muscle at line speeds of 1,380 carcasses per hour. This technology was then applied to the live animal in BioQStation software. The research base continues to grow as new ultrasound technology, image analysis tools and scanning protocols are evaluated to improve the accuracy of prediction of these economically important traits.  

 

Biotronics will continue to explore new technologies and scan techniques with the goal of producing accurate and repeatable results to aid genetic selection and consumer consumption of higher quality meat animal protein sources. We continue to seek new partnerships to meet these goals. We encourage you to contact us to explore new opportunities that are mutually beneficial.