Major Upgrade to Airport Security Checks

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A 3D millimeter wave scanner developed in China is marked as the most advanced security screening instrument in the nation. The device is a whole-body imaging device that uses a form of electromagnetic radiation to detect objects concealed beneath a person’s clothing.

The scanner is capable of detecting as many as 89 dangerous or risky items within 1 second, including those “invisible” to existing body-screening devices such as corrosive or flammable liquids.

China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp developed the scanner, through the Beijing Huahang Radio Measurement Institute under CASIC’s Third Academy.

Several countries including the United States, the United Kingdom and Japan have already adopted similar wave scanners for airport security checks.

According to ecns.cn, the device has a 95 percent accuracy rate, meaning most security personnel will be released from time-consuming hand searches. The scanner will greatly boost security checkpoints’ efficiency while being more convenient for passengers and it is safe for use on humans.

As for privacy concerns, the scanner shows a human figure on the display at the checkpoint rather than an actual image of passenger’s body. In a separate control room, security examiners will be able to see the actual image but the passenger’s face and groin will be blurred.

The institute built China’s first prototype millimeter wave scanner in 2011 and has registered more than 40 national patents regarding advanced body-imaging technologies. The institute said it has continued to upgrade the product, which is in trial use at several domestic airports.

The Civil Aviation Administration of China recently issued a set of guidelines on the use of millimeter wave scanners at airports, encouraging the replacement of metal detectors that have been relied upon by Chinese airport security authorities for 26 years.