Detection"Sniffer technology" may replace detection dogs
Humans have approximately 5,000,000 sensory “smelling” cells, while certain breeds of dogs, such as the Alsation, can have up to 220,000,000; dogs trained for detection jobs are effective enough, but require much more maintenance than a machine — and researchers have just developed a sniffer machine which may well compete with dogs; the new device uses what is called quantum cascade (QC) lasers to detect any trace vapors of explosive material emitted by a passenger, without the passengers having to remove any article of clothing in the process
Officials at Glasgow airport in Scotland are testing whether the “electronic sniffer dog,” the latest development in smell technology, can surpass a K-9’s ability to root out drugs, explosives, or other dangers to aviation security.
Scotland-based Cascade Technologies has been developing the technology alongside French multi-biometric and security company Morpho. The sensitive device resembles a body scanning portal, but does not record any images of passengers screened. It uses what is called quantum cascade (QC) lasers to detect any trace vapors of explosive material emitted by a passenger, without the passengers having to remove any article of clothing in the process.
In order to prevent false positives from passengers who might be carrying items with traces of explosive material, the device has the ability to detect IED precursors in pre-defined levels.
A processing time of approximately one passenger per second and the delivery of quick results shows promise for aviation screening occurring at walking speeds in the near future.
The spectroscopy platform absorbs samples in sub-parts per billion — “To put it into perspective,” says Richard Cooper, operations director of Cascade Technologies, “imagine detecting a single drop of contaminated water in an Olympic-sized swimming pool.”
Cascade’s instrumentation has applications in detecting explosives, chemical agents, toxic industrial chemicals (TICs), narcotics, and can also screen containers.
While humans have approximately 5,000,000 sensory “smelling” cells, certain breeds of dogs, such as the Alsation, can have up to 220,000,000. Dogs trained for the job are effective enough, but require much more maintenance than a machine. Professor Yushan Yan, head of Chemical and Environmental Engineering at the University of California, Riverside vouches for the trained noses on detection dogs, but says the sniffer technology is developing quickly and could see a lot of use.
According to Cascade’s Web site, the Australian Federal Police and National Institute of Forensic Services has committed approximately $108,000 USD toward further research as to how many passengers the device will be able to screen per hour.
Erwan Normand, chief scientific officer at Cascade Technologies, QC-based systems, and Dr. Gramontev, co-leader of Australia’s Queensland University of Technology applied optics program, are hopeful but admit that there is no bulletproof technology. “It is always possible, in principle, to circumvent them, for example, by developing new substances that may not be detectable by the proposed technology,” says Dr. Gramontev, “or by following special procedures that would prevent residual vapors from being released into the surrounding air.”
