TSA Working With Los Alamos National Labs On More Accurate
Baggage Scanners
TSA says it is working with Los
Alamos National Laboratory on fine-tuning Magnetic Resonance
Imaging (MRI) technology to develop the MagVis, or Magnetic Vision
Innovative Prototype (pictured, below) which could discern
between shave gel and C-4. If successful, TSA says the days of
limiting liquids carried on board an aircraft to three ounces in a
one quart clear plastic bag ... known as 3-1-1 ... could end.
By detecting ultralow magnetic fields, the MagViz can peer
through whatever container you’re carrying, divine
what’s in it, and let you pass with your bottled water
or—during flu season—your hand sanitizer. Last year, to
test the new model’s selectivity, DHS program evaluators
planted multiple surprise liquids at Albuquerque International
Airport. MagViz correctly flagged all liquid-bomb ingredients.
At the same time, DHS says MagViz gave the green light to all
but one friendly fluid. And it withstood real-life tests such as an
outsize bag; a refrigerator magnet from the airport gift shop; a
stuck-open door; and even a false loading, when an edgy passenger
snatched back her half-inserted purse. On the operator’s
display, threats were clearly indicated.
The technology does present some challenges. In the Albuquerque
test, the prototype had to be shielded from electromagnetic
interference radiating from fluorescent ballasts, Wi-Fi laptops,
and even smartphones. That shielding came in the form of a large
exoframe that would be too bulky for a real operational setting. To
engineer a shielded MagViz in a compact enclosure, DHS says it will
look to the private sector.
In most airports, MagViz would be placed immediately behind the
X-ray machine, giving each carry-on a second scan. In smaller
airports, where the screening area may be too short for a tandem
arrangement, MagViz would sit off to the side. “You’d
have to wait in a separate line,” concedes MagViz program
manager Stephen Surko of S&T’s Homeland Security Advanced
Research Projects Agency(HSARPA), “but at least you could
bring along that large bottle of [water].”
Surko says while MagViz would be a tremendous improvement,it's
not perfect. Unlike a fingerprint, nuclear magnetic resonance
signatures can vary. If, for example, a liquid is slightly warmer
or cooler than expected, or its pH a bit more acidic or basic, the
reading can change. “MagViz can see all these differences
easily,” says Surko. “We need to learn how well we can
predict them and account for them.”