Astonishing Growth in Airport Full Body Scanner Industry

A full body scanner is a device that detects objects on or in a person's body for security clearance purposes without physically removing clothing or making physical contact. Depending on the technology used, the operator may see an alternate wavelength image of the person's naked body, just a comic-style representation of the person with an indicator showing where suspicious items have been discovered, or a full x-ray of the person. For privacy and security reasons, the display is generally not visible to other passengers and, in some cases, is in a separate room where the operator cannot see the face of the person to be checked. In contrast to metal detectors, full-body scanners can detect non-metallic objects, which became an increasing problem after various bomb attacks on commercial aircraft in the 2000s. Transmission x-ray body scanners can also detect objects that have been swallowed or hidden in a person's body cavities.

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Some of the key players of Airport Full Body Scanner Industry:

Millivision Inc., Rapiscan Systems Ltd., Brijot Imaging Systems, L-3 Communications Holdings, Inc., Tek84 Engineering Group LLC, American Science & Engineering Group, Braun & Company Ltd., Smiths Group PLC, and CST Digital Communications

From 2007, full-body scanners will complement metal detectors at airports and train stations in many countries.

Three different technologies were used, although the use of backscatter X-ray has now been discontinued in many countries:

• Millimeter wave scanners use non-ionizing electromagnetic radiation, similar to that used by wireless data transmitters, in the extremely high frequency (EHF) radio band (which is lower in frequency than visible light). The health risks of these machines are still being investigated, and the evidence is mixed, even though millimeter wave scanners do not produce ionizing radiation.
• Backscatter x-rays use low-dose penetrating radiation to detect suspicious metallic and non-metallic objects hidden under clothing or in shoes and in the cavities of the human body. A considerable debate over the safety of this method sparked research and ultimately resulted in several countries banning its use.
• X-ray security scanner for transmission (penetration). In these scanners, X-rays pass through the human body and are then recorded by a detector or an array of detectors. With this type of full-body scanner, you can detect objects that are hidden not only under clothing, but also inside the human body (for example, drugs carried in the stomach by drug couriers) or in its natural cavities. The dose received is normally not higher than 0.25 μSv and is mainly regulated by the American radiation protection standard for personal search systems using gamma or X-ray radiation ANSI 43.17.2009. Due to the low dose, the resulting image could not be of diagnostic quality for medical purposes, but is completely sufficient to detect objects that are not characteristic of human biology and could be contraband.