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Vertical back movement of cows during locomotion: detecting lameness with a simple image processing technique

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 October 2024

Ibrahim Akin ,
Yilmaz Kalkan  and
Yalcin Alper Ozturan
Ibrahim Akin*
Affiliation:
Department of Surgery, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Aydin Adnan Menderes University, Isikli, Aydin, Turkey
Yilmaz Kalkan
Affiliation:
Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Aydin Adnan Menderes University, Aydin, Turkey
Yalcin Alper Ozturan
Affiliation:
Department of Surgery, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Aydin Adnan Menderes University, Isikli, Aydin, Turkey
*
Corresponding author: Ibrahim Akin; Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

This research paper proposes a simple image processing technique for automatic lameness detection in dairy cows under farm conditions. Seventy-five cows were selected from a dairy farm and visually assessed for a reference/real lameness score (RLS) as they left the milking parlor, while simultaneously being video-captured. The method employed a designated walking path and video recordings processed through image analysis to derive a new computerized automatic lameness score (ALDS) based on calculated factors from back arch posture. The proposed automatic lameness detection system was calibrated using 12 cows, and the remaining 63 were used to evaluate the diagnostic characteristics of the ALDS. The agreement and correlation between ALDS and RLS were investigated. ALDS demonstrated high diagnostic accuracy with 100% sensitivity and specificity and was found to be 100% accurate with a perfect agreement (ρc = 1) and strong correlation (r = 1, P < 0.001) for lameness detection in binary scores (lame/non-lame). Moreover, the ALDS had a strong agreement (ρc = 0.885) and was highly correlated (r = 0.840; 0.796–1.000 95% confidence interval, P < 0.001) with RLS in ordinal scores (lameness severity; LS1 to LS5). Our findings suggest that the proposed method has the potential to compete with vision-based lameness detection methods in dairy cows in farm conditions.

Keywords

Back posture assessmentdairy cowimage processinglameness
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Dairy Research , Volume 91 , Issue 3 , August 2024 , pp. 278 - 285
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Hannah Dairy Research Foundation

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