New full-body scanner reveals hidden objects without embarassing passengers

Passengers want scanning technologies to be sensitive so they spot suspicious substances and gear on fellow passengers as they pass through security, but the very same passengers certainly do not want scanning technologies to be so sensitive that they allow an anatomically correct image of each passenger showing on the screener’s monitor. Seattle-based EMIT Technologies is offering its People Portal II (PPII) as a solution to this particlular problem.

The PPII is a full-body scanning portal. It displays a non-descript wireframe body image which helps security personnel identify weapons, drugs, and other concealed contraband in seconds without violating the sensibilities of modest travelers.

EMIT’s technology has attracted the atention, and financial support, of the Department of Defense-sponsored San Diego-based Center for Commercialization of Advanced Technology (CCAT). Since its inception in July 2001, CCAT has supported dozens of promising technologies invented by small entrepreneurs, academic researchers. CCAT initially funded the PPII prototype in 2004, but the technology itself goes back to the late 1980s, when a hand-held scanning device which relied on low-energy microwaves was used to seek out drugs in various hiding places, including beverage containers and “mules.”

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) became interested in the technology, and in 1989 Tex Yukl, the inventor, formed EMIT in order to work on adapting the technology so it could be effectively used by the FAA. In 2000 the full body scanning system was put in a a hand-held device and named the People Portal. Tthe People Portal II was introduced in 2004. It won the Frost & Sullivan Entrepreneurial Company of the Year Award that same year.

The low-energy microwaves emitted by PPII emit less energy than that of overhead fluorescent lights. PPII shows operators only the location of objects that are neither living nor part of clothing. “Our unique dielectric process allows us to measure the electromagnetic energy movement through materials,” said Curt Lew, EMIT’s president. “This gives us the data to accurately detect and locate potential threats and eventually categorize the material make up, however, the People Portal II does not attempt to identify what those objects are.”

The PPII can find a smooth nonmetallic item strapped around the body of an individual going through security — but it does not tell an airport security guard whether the item is plastic explosives, a medical device, or vinyl money belt: It shows security personnel where to look in order to determine the nature of the object. PPII can also scan people’s shoes for potential threats without passengers having to take their shoes off.

PPII will likely be ready for testing by the FAA in their labs in Atlantic City by the beginning of next year. If FAA testing is successful, this technology could be approved for trial runs in airports by the TSA and other secure facilities. Note that the system may also be used to detect contraband entering the building and stolen items leaving a building. EMIT is therefore exploring additional applications through joint ventures and partnerships with door manufacturers.

The PPII is expected to be available for sale to government agencies and private organizations by the end of 2007.