I-Corps: A fibrogram based method for the rapid assessment of within sample variation in fiber length

I-Corps项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力在于满足国内棉花工业对更好的纤维长度测量的需要。由于棉纤维长度在样品内变化过大而造成的纱线缺陷，会给纺纱厂带来折扣和利润损失。然而，目前用于销售棉纤维的纤维长度测量并不能充分捕捉到样品中纤维长度的变化，这需要识别可能导致问题的棉包。因此，棉农生产的棉花质量往往是最高的，但市场并没有给予与他们的努力相称的溢价。这项技术为农民提供了一种在市场上使其产品与众不同以增加利润的方法，从而使他们能够专注于质量。种子公司可以使用这项技术来筛选他们的种质，在样品内纤维长度的过度变化。这是为国内棉农开发优质棉花品种和生物技术的重要一步。这个I-Corps项目进一步开发了一种新的算法，可以快速准确地测量棉纤维长度在样品内的变化。该技术基于纤维图法，该方法生成纤维图曲线，表征光通过随机捕获的纤维束的衰减。该技术在代表广泛表型变异的样本上进行了评估，并在商业条件下生产和收获了一组样本。与目前工业上使用的长度测量相比，基于该技术的纤维长度测量能够更好地解释纱线拉伸性能和纱线缺陷的变化。此外，这项技术比现有的纺纱厂用来测量样品内纤维长度变化的仪器更快、更便宜。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is in addressing the need in the domestic cotton industry for a better fiber length measurement. Yarn imperfections caused by excessive within sample variation in cotton fiber length result in discounts and lost profits for spinning mills. However, current fiber length measurements used to market cotton fiber do not adequately capture within sample variation in fiber length needed to identify cotton bales that may cause problems. As a result, cotton farmers are often producing the highest quality cotton but the market is not responding with premiums commensurate with their efforts. This technology allows farmers to focus on quality by providing a way for them to differentiate their product in the market for increased profit. Seed companies can use this technology to screen their germplasm for excessive within sample variation in fiber length. This is an important step toward developing elite cotton varieties and biotechnologies for domestic cotton farmers.This I-Corps project further develops a new algorithm that provides a fast and accurate measurement of within sample variation in cotton fiber length. The technology is based on the fibrograph method, where a fibrogram curve is generated that characterizes the attenuation of light through a randomly caught beard of fibers. The technology was evaluated on samples that were selected to represent a wide range of phenotypic variation, and a set of samples that was produced and harvested under commercial conditions. Fiber length measurements based this technology were able to better explain variation in yarn tensile properties and yarn imperfections when compared against length measurements currently used in the industry. In addition, this technology is faster and less expensive than existing instruments designed to help spinning mills measure within sample variation in fiber length.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.