Security screening

X-ray fluoroscopy is used for direct on-line examination. A fluorescent screen is used to convert x-ray photons into visible light photons. A television camera receives the visible image and displays it on a television screen (see Fig. 19). This type of system is used for security screening of carry-on luggage at airports. 

Airline Passenger Security Screening New Technologies and Implementation Issues , National Research Council, Report NMAB-482-1, 1996. 

Table 1 Timeline of major events in the history of X-ray security screening-criminal incidents are indicated in dark shading, commercial developments in light shading, and governmental actions without shading...

W.K. Stefanski, R. Beland, N.E. Watt, N. Neelakantan and C. Stefanski, An x-ray inspection system for security screening application, in Proc. 1977 Int. Carnahan Conf. on Crime Countermeasures - Science and Engineering, ].S. Jackson (ed.), 25-29 July 1977, Oxford, UK, 77CH1230-2 AES, UKY BU113, University of Kentucky (1977) 57-64. 

Committee on Commercial Aviation Security, National Materials Advisory Board, Airline Passenger Security Screening, NMAB-482-1, National Academy Press, DOT/FAA/AR-96/52 (1996) 74pp. 

P. Evans and M. Robinson, The development of 3-D equipment for security screening, in Contraband and Cargo Inspection Technology International Symposium, A.E. Brandenstein and C.E. Dewitt (eds.) 28-30 October 1992, Washington, DC, ONDCP and NIJ (1992) 103-109. 

Chapter 11, Mass Spectrometry for Security Screening of Explosives This chapter is a little different from the other technology descriptions since it describes systems that are not portable. These are systems used to locate explosives in containers, or on personnel, that pass by a fixed point. The chapter also compares the features of mass spectrometry (MS) and ion mobility spectrometry (IMS) that often cause systems developers to choose one or the other for a specific application. 

This section would not be complete without giving some idea of the path that XDI has gone to become a modality of major importance in contemporary security screening. The first hard X-ray ( 100 keV) measurements of diffraction profiles of explosives in an XDI system that was in principle scalable in size to be able to analyse checked baggage were performed in the mid-1980s [14],... 

Fig. 12. SafeView SafeScout 100 (Provision 100) security screening system (Image courtesy of L3/...

One of the appeals of THz radiation for security screening is that, at present and anticipated power levels, it appears to be safe for living tissue. Some evidence is presented here. 

J.A. Syage, K.A. Hanold, and R.L. Woodfin (ed.), Mass Spectrometry for Security Screening of Explosives, Trace Chemical Sensing of Explosives, John Wiley Sons, New York, 2006. 

---