Nuclear detectionAndroid app for radioactivity detection
Just-release Android app uses software and the smartphone’s camera to measure radioactivity levels, allowing users to find out whether their environments are safe; the software is the civilian version of technology developed under contracts with the U.S. Department of Defense and with DHS
Tawkon-developed radiation detection app for Android // Source: portfolio.com
East Hartford, Connecticut-based Image Insight Inc. announced the release of their first commercial product, the GammaPix app for Android phones. The app uses software and the smartphone’s camera to measure radioactivity levels, allowing users to find out whether their environments are safe. The software is the civilian version of technology developed under contracts with the U.S. Department of Defense and with DHS.
GammaPix can be used for detection of radioactivity in everyday life: exposure on airplanes, medical procedures, or contaminated products. The system also detects hazards from less common events such as accidents at nuclear power plants, a terrorist attack by a dirty bomb, or quietly placed radioactive silent sources.
Initially the product will be available as a free trial download on specific Android phones. The company says that an iPhone version will follow shortly, as will professional apps on both platforms for police, fire, medical, and other first responders. These products are currently in beta-testing in the United States and Japan and by the U.S. and U.K. militaries. The company notes that the accuracy of the measurements has been verified for specific phone models at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).
The patented GammaPix technology is based on software that analyzes images produced by a surveillance camera, Webcam, or smartphone to measure gamma radiation exposure at the device. The technology is said to be sensitive enough to detect, within seconds, dangerously high levels of radiation so action can be taken immediately. GammaPix can also be used to collect data over longer periods, from minutes (to detect weaker radioactivity sources), to hours — measuring normal background radioactivity.
Image Insight, which now owns all of GammaPix intellectual property, is the third spin-off from Advanced Fuel Research, Inc. (AFR), where the development of the technology began. AFR has had two previous successful spin-off companies: On-line Technologies, Inc. and Real Time Analyzers, Inc.
