Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: The fleeces of mammals with dense coats, such as the mohair fleeces of Angora goats, usually include medullated fibres. These fibres constitute a problem for the textile industry because of their structural characteristics. Three experiments were conducted in this study, with the aim of comparing human image analysis to digital image analysis and artificial intelligence (AI), in terms of their ability to determine the incidence of medullation in mohair samples. The experiments entailed determining the incidences of industry non-objectionable medullated (NOB) fibres and objectionable medullated (SME) fibres, as percentages of the non-medullated fibres. In each experiment, a set of samples was analysed by both laboratory personnel and by different AI models using a Smart Fiber Medullometer. Laboratory personnel showed better coincidence and higher correlations with the AI models when counting SME fibres (r = 0.64–0.97) than when counting NOB fibres (r = 0.57–0.87). This could be the result of the more clearly defined characteristics of SME fibres, in relation to NOB fibres. The results of this studyindicate a great advance in the automatic detection of SME and NOB fibres in mohair samples. However, further adjustments of the AI models are required for counting NOB fibres.
Institution: National Agricultural Technology Institute
Language: English
Subfield: Polymers and Plastics
Field: Materials Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $500
OpenAlex ID: W4410997666