Concurrent in ovo injection and detection method and apparatus
First Claim
1. A method of injecting a plurality of bird eggs, comprising:
- a) orienting a plurality of avian eggs in a predetermined position;
b) forming an opening in the shell of each of said eggs;
c) extending an elongate delivery device through each of said openings and into the eggs, each of said delivery devices comprising a detector and an injection needle, with said injection needle having a lumen formed therein;
d) detecting with said detector information from the interior of each of said plurality of eggs; and
e) injecting a substance into each of said plurality of eggs through the lumen of said injection needle.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method of injecting a plurality of bird eggs comprises: (a) orienting a plurality of avian eggs in a predetermined position; (b) forming an opening in the shell of each of the eggs; (c) extending an elongate delivery device through each of the openings and into the eggs, each of the delivery devices comprising a detector and an injection needle, with the injection needle having a lumen formed therein; (d) detecting with the detector information from the interior of each of the plurality of eggs; and (e) injecting a substance into each of the plurality of eggs through the lumen of said injection needle. The detected information can be used for a variety of purposes, including adjusting the depth of penetration of the injection needle to more precisely control the location of the injection, identifying the gender of the eggs for subsequent sorting of the eggs, distinguishing viable from non-viable eggs, etc. When used for controlling depth penetration, the method positions the needle tip for any purpose, including withdrawing biological material as well as injecting substances. Apparatus, particularly high-speed apparatus, for carrying out the method is also disclosed.
109 Citations
38 Claims
-
1. A method of injecting a plurality of bird eggs, comprising:
-
a) orienting a plurality of avian eggs in a predetermined position;
b) forming an opening in the shell of each of said eggs;
c) extending an elongate delivery device through each of said openings and into the eggs, each of said delivery devices comprising a detector and an injection needle, with said injection needle having a lumen formed therein;
d) detecting with said detector information from the interior of each of said plurality of eggs; and
e) injecting a substance into each of said plurality of eggs through the lumen of said injection needle. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
withdrawing a biological sample from said egg;
identifying the egg from which said biological sample was withdrawn;
obtaining information from said withdrawn biological sample; and
thenstoring said information in association with the identification of the egg from which said biological sample was withdrawn.
-
-
14. A method according to claim 1, further comprising the steps of:
-
identifying the egg from which said information is obtained; and
thenstoring said information in association with the identity of the egg from which said information is obtained.
-
-
15. A method according to claim 1, further comprising the steps of:
-
f) withdrawing said elongate delivery device from each of said eggs; and
theng) repeating steps (a) through (e) with a second plurality of eggs.
-
-
16. A method according to claim 1, wherein said bird eggs are live embryonated bird eggs.
-
17. A method of positioning a needle tip for injecting a substance into or withdrawing a sample from a particular location within each of a plurality of bird eggs, comprising:
-
a) orienting a plurality of avian eggs in a predetermined position;
b) forming an opening in the shell of each of said eggs;
c) extending an elongate delivery device through each of said openings and into the eggs, each of said delivery devices comprising a depth detector and a needle, with said needle having a tip portion and a lumen formed therein, said lumen extending through said tip portion;
d) detecting needle depth information from the interior of each of said plurality of eggs with said depth detector; and
thene) independently controlling the depth of penetration of each of said needles based on said corresponding needle depth information;
whereby a substance can be injected or biological material withdrawn from a particular position of said needle tip portion within each of said plurality of eggs through the lumen of said needle.- View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
-
-
24. An injection apparatus for injecting a plurality of bird eggs with a substance, said apparatus comprising:
-
an alignment assembly for orienting a plurality of bird eggs to be injected;
a plurality of injectors associated with said alignment assembly and configured for injecting each of said plurality of bird eggs in a predetermined location, each of said injectors including an injection needle having a lumen through which said substance is injected; and
a detector operatively associated with each of said injection needles that detects information from the interior of said egg. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33)
sampling means for withdrawing a biological sample from said egg;
identifying means for identifying the egg from which said biological sample was withdrawn;
analyzing means operatively associated with said sampling means for obtaining information from said biological sample; and
storage means operatively associated with said analyzing means and said identifying means for storing said information in association with the identification of the egg from which said biological sample was withdrawn.
-
-
34. An apparatus for positioning a needle tip for injecting a substance into or withdrawing biological material from a particular location in a plurality of bird eggs with a substance, said apparatus comprising:
-
an alignment assembly for orienting a plurality of bird eggs to be injected;
a plurality of injectors associated with said alignment assembly and configured for injecting each of said plurality of bird eggs in a predetermined location, each of said injectors including a needle having a lumen through which said substance is injected or said material is withdrawn;
a depth detector connected to and operatively associated with each of said injection needles for detecting needle depth information from the interior of said egg; and
control means operatively associated with said each of said depth detectors for independently controlling the depth of penetration of each of said needles. - View Dependent Claims (35, 36, 37, 38)
-
Specification