Nondestructive detection of underlying moldy lesions of apple using frequency domain diffuse optical tomography.

• FD-DOT is demonstrated for nondestructive detection of underlying lesions of apple. • 10 mm cylindrical moldy lesion in apple at controlled center depth was identified. • Freeform lesions in 8 grossly unremarkable apples were identified. • Condition of identifying moldy-core is discussed based on Contrast-detail-analysis. Nondestructive tomographic identification of underlying moldy lesions of apple is demonstrated experimentally, for the first time, by using frequency domain diffuse optical tomography (FD-DOT). The custom applicator-probe had 18 optodes distributed on a spheroid apple-size imaging domain. The 12 source channels were time-multiplexed to a laser source modulated at 110 MHz, and the 6 detector channels were individually conditioned for parallel heterodyning at 10 kHz. The iterative image reconstruction was performed without priors in an open-source finite-element-method (FEM) package with custom meshing of the imaging domain. Cylindrical moldy lesions in apple at controlled center depths ranging from 10 mm to 35 mm were established using 10 mm diameter cylinder inclusions harvested from mildew flesh, and freeform lesions in apple were developed by injecting colonies of Alternaria alternate. The moldy lesions not deeper than 20 mm from the peel were resolvable on the absorption images. The moldy lesions were unremarkable on the reduced scattering images. Contrast-detail-analysis is also performed in simulation to assess the condition of identifying a moldy-core lesion by FD-DOT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]