CellSense™ – A World's First
Outcome
To be a viable solution to the problem, the final product which Sensortec developed had to be:
- cost effective for the farmer
- easy to implement and understand from a user-perspective
- easy to install and maintain from a milking machine installer's or distributor's perspective
- able to withstand the harshness of a typical milking environment including the user interaction
Branded as CellSense™ the product is designed to be located in the long milk tube at the dairy. It works by mixing the milk sample taken with a specially designed, but inexpensive reagent which breaks apart the somatic cells. This process liberates the DNA in the somatic cells which tangle together to form a complex gel. The viscosity of the gel is measured and correlated to give the SCC reading. The milker simply flicks a switch at cups on and the sensor does the rest. The SCC result is presented in convenient bands on a visual display located at the milking point whilst the cow is still being milked. This provides a practical low cost way for the daily monitoring of each cow's SCC level.
"We left it up to the design engineers to come up with a low cost visual display. They did a good job there, coming up with a simple small box that is water tight and has a magnetic switch so that there's no chances for leakage in a wet environment."
The final product is much simpler to install than a standard milking machine installation.
"There's not the piping and pumping and metalwork involved. There's a bit of welding to be done and some electrical work – power points and that sort of stuff – but that's about it," says Rod.
