Maturity Ratio, Fineness and Ribbon Width Measurement Using the Water Based Cottonscope

A new version of the Cottonscope instrument that measures cotton maturity, fineness (linear density) and ribbon width using a water bowl for simpler snippet handling has been developed.  The direct measurement principles and the speed of measuring 20,000 fibers in 30 seconds make it an ideal technology for commercial adaptation.  The performance of initial laboratory trials is described.  The measurement of maturity ratio, fineness and ribbon width on a blended cotton sample gave between measurement coefficients of variation of 0.2%, 1.7% and 0.3% respectively.  The coefficient of determination (r²) for the relationship between maturity ratio values measured on the Cottonscope against values from a subset of the 104 International Textile Center (ITC) fiber maturity reference cottons (Hequet et al, 2006) was 85%.  The r² of fiber fineness measured on the Cottonscope against values measured by the CSIRO Cottonscan was 96.5%.  The r² of the relationship between maturity ratio values for the same samples from different Cottonscope instruments was 99.5%.