A machine using ultrasound and AI can gauge the fattiness of a tuna fish

KAWASAKI, Japan -- Seafood lovers cognize the fatty marbling is what makes tuna sashimi and sushi truthful tasty, truthful for the industry, it's the fish's level of fattiness that's utilized to justice its prime and pricing.

Usually, respective radical measure however fatty a tuna is by cutting the process with a elephantine saw-like knife, an cognition that takes astir 60 seconds per fish.

But present a instrumentality called Sonofai uses ultrasound waves to bash the occupation successful 12 seconds, operated by a idiosyncratic without anterior cognition of however to carve fish.

Fujitsu, the Japanese institution down the technology, invited reporters this week for a objection of Sonofai, a connection blended from “sono” referring to “sound,” “f” for Fujitsu, and “ai,” oregon artificial intelligence. The sanction refers to its components but besides stands for “son of AI.”

A conveyor loop transports a full frozen tuna fish, astir a metre (3 feet) successful size, into a instrumentality that beams ultrasound waves. Sensors prime up the waves to gully a zigzagging diagram connected a surface to bespeak the fish’s fattiness.

Fatty nutrient absorbs less dependable waves than thin nutrient and AI sorts existent information from misleading “noise,” oregon irregularities.

Hisashi Ishida, president of Sonofai, the startup down the technology, who besides heads Ishida Tec Co., which makes food-manufacturing equipment, says it’s safer, much sanitary and efficient.

“Fatty food tastes good, feels amended connected your lingua and is called ‘toro,’ ” helium said. “Overseas needs are increasing due to the fact that sushi civilization is present appreciated astir the world.”

Beef has a grading strategy for abdominous and expected flavor, but being capable to gauge the prime of tuna is new, according to Hideto Okada, who oversees AI astatine Fujitsu.

Sonofai uses the aforesaid exertion arsenic aesculapian ultrasound scans wherever high-frequency inaudible dependable waves are absorbed oregon bounced backmost to make video-like images of things that aren’t visible, similar a fetus wrong a mother’s womb. Unlike the CT scan oregon X-ray, it doesn’t usage radiation, which tin harm tissue.

Chris Edwards, a aesculapian doc and prof astatine Queensland University of Technology, who trains sonographers, oregon health-care professionals who specialize successful ultrasound, has studied however ultrasound tin beryllium utilized to spot the fattiness of a quality liver, linked to diabetes and different wellness problems.

“They tin look astatine 1 food and comparison it to different and accidental ‘Oh, that one’s decidedly got much abdominous than that one,’” helium told The Associated Press successful an interview.

But Sonofai won't beryllium astatine your vicinity sushi chef.

Fish-processing outfits and sportfishing organizations are the apt buyers. The instrumentality is acceptable to spell connected merchantability successful June for astir 30 cardinal yen ($207,000) each, astatine archetypal successful Japan but expanding to the U.S. and different places later. They'll besides enactment connected aboriginal upgrades to trial for freshness, firmness and different characteristics of tuna and different food varieties.

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Yuri Kageyama is connected Threads: https://www.threads.net/@yurikageyama