Plant doctor: An AI system that watches over urban trees without touching a leaf

Urban trees and plants do more than just beautify city landscapes. They purify the air, reduce urban heat islands, provide recreational spaces, and even boost property values. As essential components of sustainable urban ecosystems, plants silently contribute to our well-being. However, urban trees face many threats, including pests, diseases, and climate change, making it essential to keep their health in check.

Urban greenery monitoring has traditionally been a very labor-intensive process, requiring botanical expertise and considerable resources. With cities expanding worldwide and urban environments becoming more complex, keeping track of plant health has also become more difficult. Could artificial intelligence (AI) hold the key to addressing this challenge?

In a recent study, a joint research team led by Professor Umezu's Laboratory from the Department of Life Science and Medical Bioscience at Waseda University and Professor Shiojiri's Laboratory from the Faculty of Agriculture at Ryukoku University developed an innovative AI-driven solution for monitoring plant health. Their paper was published online in the journal Measurement on February 22, 2025, and will be published in Volume 249, on May 31, 2025. This study introduces ‘Plant Doctor,’ a hybrid AI system that automatically diagnoses urban tree health through video footage captured by ordinary cameras. “Machine vision techniques such as segmentation have great applications in the medical field. We wanted to extrapolate this technology to other areas, such as plant health,” says first author Marques, explaining their motivation.

Plant Doctor combines two cutting-edge machine vision algorithms—YOLOv8 and DeepSORT—to identify and track individual leaves across video frames. The goal of these algorithms is to ensure that only the best images for each leaf are selected for further processing. Then, a third algorithm, called DeepLabV3Plus, performs detailed image segmentation to precisely quantify leaf damage. The proposed system can automatically detect diseased areas on individual leaves, such as spots caused by bacteria, pests, and fungi.

One of the most attractive aspects of this approach is its scalability and cost efficiency. The system can process video footage collected by cameras mounted not only on drones but also on city maintenance vehicles like garbage trucks, turning routine services into opportunities to gather data without investing substantial resources. Moreover, by using images rather than actual branches and leaves, Plant Doctor minimizes stress on city plants. “We have provided a tool for botanical experts to assess plant health in one solution without the need to gather samples and damage the plants in the process,” remarks Marques. The research team validated the proposed system using footage of urban plants in Tokyo, obtaining favorable results and remarkably accurate leaf health diagnoses across various urban flora.

By combining plant health data with accurate location information, Plant Doctor enables both a micro-level analysis of individual plants and macro-level insights into disease patterns across urban areas. Worth noting, beyond urban applications, Plant Doctor could also be adapted for agricultural use, helping farmers monitor crop health and identify diseases before they spread.

Overall, the proposed technology represents a significant step toward more sustainable urban and rural plant health monitoring, allowing botanical experts to focus more on strategic interventions rather than routine monitoring. Let us hope these efforts lead to cities and fields with healthier plants!

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Reference

DOI: 10.1016/j.measurement.2025.117094 

Authors: Marc Josep Montagut Marques¹, Liu Mingxin², Kuri Thomas Shiojiri³, Tomika Hagiwara⁴, Kayo Hirose⁵, Kaori Shiojiri⁶, and Shinjiro Umezu^1,7          

Affiliations

¹Department of Integrative Bioengineering, Waseda University

²Department of Modern Mechanical Engineering, Waseda University

³Kyoto Prefecture Momoyama High School

⁴Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Kyushu University

⁵Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Relief Center, The University of Tokyo Hospital

⁶Department of Agriculture, Ryukoku University

⁷Space neo Inc.

About Waseda University

Located in the heart of Tokyo, Waseda University is a leading private research university that has long been dedicated to academic excellence, innovative research, and civic engagement at both the local and global levels since 1882. The University has produced many changemakers in its history, including nine prime ministers and many leaders in business, science and technology, literature, sports, and film. Waseda has strong collaborations with overseas research institutions and is committed to advancing cutting-edge research and developing leaders who can contribute to the resolution of complex, global social issues. The University has set a target of achieving a zero-carbon campus by 2032, in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by the United Nations in 2015. 

To learn more about Waseda University, visit https://www.waseda.jp/top/en  

About Mr. Marc Josep Montagut Marques
Marc Josep Montagut Marques is a PhD student and currently working as a Laboratory Research Assistant at Waseda University. He currently specializes in perovskite solar cells, cyborg insects, and medical sensors; his previous line of research also included opto engineering, sensor integration, and nanofabrication.