Contract Type: Research – Full time
Project title:
Deep Learning-Based Early Detection of Mastitis in Dairy Cows to Improve the Production and Quality of Milk in Oman Using Infrared Thermography and Computer Vision.
Project Description:
This project addresses mastitis a devastating inflammatory condition threatening Oman’s dairy industry by employing artificial intelligence and infrared thermography for early, non-invasive detection. The system will collect and analyze thermal images of cows’ udders and eyes under standardized conditions, training deep learning models to detect subtle temperature anomalies indicative of subclinical mastitis before visible symptoms appear. This scalable, technology-driven solution will enable timely intervention, reduce economic losses, improve milk quality and animal
welfare, and support Oman’s Vision 2040 goals for agricultural innovation and food security.
RA Duties andResponsibilities:
Role: Annotation, Model Evaluation & Research Documentation Lead
- Phase 1: Literature & Framework Development (Months 1–2)
• Conduct systematic literature review on mastitis detection using AI and thermography.
• Review multimodal deep learning fusion strategies.
• Assist in defining mastitis classification criteria (healthy, subclinical, clinical).
• Support preparation of ethical approval documentation.
- Phase 2: Data Annotation & Validation (Months 2–4)
• Perform detailed image annotation with veterinary guidance.
• Label udder regions and mastitis status.
• Conduct dataset quality assurance checks.
• Perform statistical correlation between thermal patterns and SCC values.
• Document dataset creation process.
- Phase 3: Model Evaluation & Dissemination (Months 4–7)
• Conduct comparative evaluation of multiple deep learning models.
• Perform cross-validation and ablation studies.
• Evaluate performance metrics (Accuracy, Precision, Recall, F1-score, ROC-AUC).
• Implement explainable AI techniques (e.g., Grad-CAM).
• Prepare research manuscript for international journal submission.
• Assist in preparing conference presentation and final technical report.
- Expected Deliverables by Month 7
• Multimodal Mastitis Image Dataset (Thermal + RGB + Clinical Labels)
• Deep Learning-Based Early Detection Prototype System
• Performance Evaluation Report
• At least One Journal/Conference Paper Submission.
• Final Technical Report for the Funding Agency.
Qualification/degree:
- Bachelor’s in Computer Science.