Automated seed testing by 3D X-ray computed tomography

In this paper, a fully automated CT-scanner is presented, which has been developed for testing of sugar beet seeds in industrial production environment. The system is simple to use, and no special training is needed for staff. The system has high throughput and the evaluation of volume images is performed automatically by dedicated image processing software. Quantitative measures of various characteristics of the parts of the seed (volume, thickness, weight) for each individual seed of a sample of 400 seeds are obtained. From these measurements, quality parameters can be derived to control seed processing.