Estimating intramuscular fat content from CT scan images

Intramuscular fat (IMF) content is an important attribute determining meat quality, with higher contents of IMF resulting in the improved palatability of beef. Currently, IMF content is subjectively determined by visual appraisal of intramuscular fat deposits within the longissimus dorsi (i.e. marbling score). Chemical analysis (ether extraction) provides an objective determination of IMF content. However, this method is destructive and incurs significant financial and diuturnal costs. A number of automated image analysis systems for determining tissue composition from CT scan images have previously been proposed (Thompson and Kinghorn 1992; Alston et al. 2005), but as yet none are capable of estimating IMF content. This abstract outlines a framework for the quantification of IMF from CT scan images of deboned beef primal cuts.