OBJECTIVEThe objective of this year project was to deliver FDS a novel, validated measurement method for closeness. In order to achieve this, an inventory of contributors to closeness and possible measurement principles was made. Prominent contributors to closeness were found to be stubble and skin structure, and the most favorable measurement technique was found to be Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT). The applicability of the Spectral Domain OCT system Telesto (product of the company Thorlabs) was subsequently investigated.RESULTSIn order to establish the applicability of OCT as closeness measurement, a series of measurements have been performed. After a single day of demonstration and the interest for OCT as a shaving result measurement was raised. Two loan periods of a full week each have been conducted, for which the required interfacing was designed. For the analysis of the volumetric datasets generated by the OCT system, a Matlab-routine was written to extract new closeness CTQs. In the final validation testing, statistical analysis shown that these CTQs can significantly distinguish a difference in closeness due to a slight alteration in the shaver design.CONCLUSIONSOCT technique was shown to be able to meet the requirements set by FDS and was validated as a measurement technique for closeness. This measurement technique was proven a valuable tool for shaving development, with closeness being only one of the aspects on which new insights can be obtained