THE PREVALENCE OF MUSCLE DEFECTS IN BROILER MEAT, SUCH AS WHITE STRIPING, WOODY BREAST AND SPAGHETTI MEAT, IS THREATING THE PROFITABILITY AND SUSTAINABILITY OF THE U.S. POULTRY INDUSTRY. POULTRY PRODUCTS ARE ALSO HIGHLY SUSCEPTIBLE TO MICROBIAL SPOILAGE OR CONTAMINATION, LEADING TO SUBSTANTIAL PRODUCT AND ECONOMIC LOSS AND POTENTIAL FOOD SAFETY ISSUES. IT IS THUS IMPERATIVE TO DEVELOP EFFECTIVE ASSESSMENT TECHNOLOGY TO ENSURE CONSISTENT SUPPLIES OF HIGH-QUALITY POULTRY PRODUCTS. CURRENT MANUAL ASSESSMENT SYSTEMS ARE LABOR INTENSIVE AND PRONE TO HUMAN EVALUATION ERRORS. COMPUTER VISION TECHNOLOGY IS CONSIDERED AS A PROMISING ALTERNATIVE FOR POULTRY INSPECTION FOR BEING OBJECTIVE, NON-DESTRUCTIVE, AND AMENABLE TO AUTOMATION. BUT IT STILL FALLS SHORT OF SATISFACTORILY DETECTING DEFECTIVE OR CONTAMINATED POULTRY PRODUCTS. THIS PROJECT AIMS TO DEVELOP INNOVATIVE SINUSOIDAL-ILLUMINATION IMAGING (SII) BY EMPLOYING SINUSOIDAL ILLUMINATION IN PLACE OF DIFFUSE OR UNIFORM ILLUMINATION (UI) THAT IS USED BY EXISTING IMAGING TECHNOLOGY, FOR ENHANCED QUALITY DETECTION OF POULTRY. WE WILL ASSEMBLE A BENCHTOP SII PLATFORM AND EVALUATE ITS EFFICACY FOR CHARACTERIZING AND DETECTING MUSCLE DEFECTS AND MICROBIAL SPOILAGE OF CHICKEN MEAT. COMPARED TO UI-BASED IMAGING TECHNOLOGY, SII WILL BE ADVANTAGEOUS IN IMAGE CONTRAST, RESOLUTION, AND DEPTH-RESOLVED CHARACTERIZATION OF SAMPLES AND A POTENTIALLY MORE EFFECTIVE IMAGING MODALITY FOR POULTRY QUALITY ASSESSMENT. THIS PROPOSED PROJECT WILL FACILITATE THE DEVELOPMENT OF NEXT-GENERATION, MORE EFFECTIVE IMAGING TECHNOLOGY FOR IMPROVED QUALITY AND SAFETY OF POULTRY AND BEYOND.