Longitudinal CT Scanning for Explainable Early Detection of Postharvest Disorders: The ‘Braeburn’ Browning Case

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This study presents two workflows for leveraging longitudinal computed tomography (CT) datasets when developing deep learning-based detection systems for gradually developing postharvest disorders. Workflow 1 (Longitudinal Benchmarking) benchmarks neural networks by training and testing them on images from different stages of disorder progression. It examines the trade-off between detecting a disorder early or accurately and evaluates whether neural networks can generalize across time points. Workflow 2 (Longitudinal eXplainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI) Heatmaps) provides heatmaps that indicate how changes over time affect the outcomes of neural networks. It uses image registration to align an earlier-acquired image and then uses it as a baseline when calculating the heatmap. The workflows are demonstrated on a dataset of ‘Braeburn’ apples that were CT-scanned multiple times while developing internal browning during controlled-atmosphere (CA) storage and shelf life. The Longitudinal Benchmarking workflow was used to investigate whether images acquired immediately after CA storage can be used to predict the eventual browning after a shelf-life period, which is highly relevant in industrial practice. Moreover, the longitudinal XAI heatmaps avoided artifacts caused by out-of-distribution baselines or identical baseline regions, which occurred with conventional black or zero baselines.