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. 2018 Nov 14;18(11):3925.
doi: 10.3390/s18113925.

Sensor-Based Detection of the Severity of Hyperkeratosis in the Teats of Dairy Cows

Susanne Demba  1 , Gundula Hoffmann  2 , Christian Ammon  3 , Sandra Rose-Meierhöfer  4
Affiliations

Sensor-Based Detection of the Severity of Hyperkeratosis in the Teats of Dairy Cows

Susanne Demba et al. Sensors (Basel). .

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate whether the severity of hyperkeratosis (HK) in the teats of dairy cows can be assessed by a dielectric measurement. The study focused on surveying the occurrence of hyperkeratosis in a total of 241 teats of lactating dairy cows. A scoring system consisting of four categories was used to macroscopically assess the severity of HK. Additionally, the dielectric constant (DC) of all teats with milkability was measured in a double iteration with the MoistureMeterD (Delfin Technologies, Kuopio, Finland) on four different days. The Spearman rank correlation coefficient revealed a negative correlation between the DC and HK score (rs = -0.55 to -0.36). The results of the regression analysis showed that the DC values differed significantly between healthy teat ends (≤2) and teat ends with HK (≥3). Thus, the non-invasive measurement of DC provides a promising method of objectively assessing the occurrence and severity of HK.

Keywords: dairy cow; dielectric constant; sensor; teat end hyperkeratosis; water content.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Magnified view of the measuring probe (a) and the measuring principle of the MoistureMeterD according to Nuutinen, Ikäheimo and Lahtinen [14] (b).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Measuring the dielectric constant at the teat orifice.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Distribution of the dielectric constant values across the four hyperkeratosis scores on each measurement day.
Figure 4
Figure 4
The probability to have a hyperkeratosis score of 1 or 2 depending on the measurement value of the dielectric constant (DC).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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