News
Tuesday 18 December 2007
Hi-tech scanner heralds new age in airport security
A major breakthrough in airport security which would help to identify suspect packages more quickly and efficiently is being developed at Nottingham Trent University. Experts are working on the world’s first ‘scatter-enhanced’ 3D x-ray security scanner to provide security operators with video images of previously unseen details of objects.
The hi-tech scanner uses scattered x-ray signals with high-resolution 3D x-ray images to create an impression of an object’s depth, partially rotate it, and even see around or behind it. The scanner creates colour images denoting the type of material the radiation is passing through, further increasing the chance of detecting and identifying possible threats.
Experts in the University’s School of Science and Technology have patented the scanner in conjunction with Cranfield University, which is collaborating on the project. The research teams are also working closely with the Home Office Scientific Development Branch and the US Department of Homeland Security on the project, which has just received additional funding totalling almost £1m.
Paul Evans, Professor of Applied Imaging Science at Nottingham Trent University, said: “We have a brand new concept which increases the x-ray signal. New imaging geometry is driving it and we will be able to produce new types of 3D screening to identify and discriminate materials. It will be a far more accurate system for identifying specific substances than the current technique of colouring groups of elements.”
He added: “Machine operators view tens of millions of packages at UK airports alone every year, and this stronger signal will significantly speed up security checks, allowing luggage to be screened in just a few seconds. It would also help to reduce the number of false alarms.”
Current shadowgraph technology, in which a photographic image is produced on a radiosensitive surface by radiation, does not make it possible to identify where the front, back or middle of an object is. And CAT scanners, which can produce 3D models of an object, are bulky, slow and very expensive to maintain.
Professor Keith Rogers, Head of the Centre for Materials Science & Engineering at Cranfield University, said: “the materials discrimination will be highly specific and only made possible by our new X-ray optical element. We are at the early stages of development but expect that the technology will impact not only in security screening but also medical imaging.”
ENDS
Notes for editors:The project’s additional funding has come from the UK Home Office and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).
Press enquiries please contact: Dave Rogers, Press Officer, on Tel: 0115 848 8782, or via email: dave.rogers@ntu.ac.uk
Or Therese Easom, Press and Media Relations Manager, on Tel: 0115 848 8774, or via email: therese.easom@ntu.ac.uk
