Fast Airline Security Checks

June 4, 2008

Harel explains that the current security checks at airports are inefficient because the X-ray machines often cannot distinguish between innocent and hazardous materials. “Many innocent materials as well as hazardous materials have the same characteristics,” Harel tells ISRAEL21c. For example, toothpaste emits the same signals to the machine as the explosive RDX, and compact discs have the appearance of explosives to the machines. The result, says Harel, is that, in airport security, there is a high rate of false alarms.

Harel’s technology works directly with the existing system, connecting to the screening machines and getting information on which specific areas of the luggage appear suspicious. The machine then investigates the suspicious material by penetrating the luggage with a pencil-beam X-ray, which gives the screeners an accurate “fingerprint” of the material. “Each material has its own ‘fingerprint,’ and we actually check the exact material in the luggage,” explains Harel. “We can tell exactly which material it is.” It can also be used in any setting where there is a need for security, such as government buildings or crowded areas.

“We are currently in the latest stage of demonstrating the prototype,” says Harel, who adds that the technology should go on sale in a year or two. “No other screening system is actually checking the material itself.” For more information: 972-4-854-6653; [email protected]

Excerpts of an article by
Ilana Teitelbaum, www.israel21c.org

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