Comparisons of Cotton Maturity and Fineness Measurements (COTTONSCOPE, AFIS, HVI™)

The Cottonscope, a new instrument for fiber maturity (MR) and fineness, utilizes polarized light microscopy and image analysis to measure longitudinal, weighted fiber snippets in water.  Interest has been expressed by the Commercial Standardization of Instrument Testing of Cotton (CSITC) on the potential of using the Cottonscope in CSITC round trials and in its potential use as a secondary reference method.  Preliminary CSITC comparative analyses were performed on a set of diverse cotton samples.  The AFIS maturity and fineness, HVI™ maturity, and Cottonscope maturity (MR) and fineness results were compared.  In addition, MR and fineness results were inserted into the Lord’s equation to obtain calculated micronaire results for each instrument, and the calculated micronaire was compared to HVI™ micronaire for each sample.  Overall, good instrument trend agreement was observed between the MR and fineness results.  For calculated micronaire, the best method agreement to HVI™ micronaire was obtained with the Cottonscope instrument.  As observed in previous evaluations, the AFIS results were less responsive to changes in MR, fineness, and calculated micronaire compared to the Cottonscope.  The development of improved fiber standards for the Cottonscope was evaluated.