Amazing NDT results in lactose powder obtained by means of Terasense THz imaging systems promise bright prospects for FOOD industry
Terasense receives many inquiries from various industrial clients in our THz imaging technology relative to their applications, where human health is of utmost importance and where X-rays are not acceptable due to ionizing radiation. Non-destructive /non-invasive inspection of various dielectric materials for internal foreign bodies, anomalies or defects represent primary applications for our systems and is the essence of our technology with respect to NDT purposes. FOOD industry conventionally tops our list, therefore, today we’d like to share amazing NDT results conducted by our scientists with lactose powder/powdered milk and aimed to detect foreign bodies/inclusions there.
In general, this application looked promising from the very beginning, because lactose powder and powdered milk were expected to be fairly transparent in THz rays -as long as they are fairly dry because water /moisture heavily attenuates THz waves and precludes NDT inspection of materials. For the experiment we use our standard 2D/matrix Tera-1024 THz imaging camera with a sensor array 32 x 32 pixel and our 100GHz (80mW) wave source with a respective horn antenna.
Despite the fact the sensor array pixel size was 1.5x1.5mm and respective imaging resolution was limited by the wavelength 3mm at the operating frequency of 100GHz, our THz imaging systems revealed fascinating NDT inspection capabilities indeed. Our experts managed to detect a human hair in lactose powder.
Even though it was not a THz image proper, but rather its diffraction pattern that we could see, but the result is still impressive, as a human hair is known to be only about 100μm in diameter. Nevertheless, it proved to be detectable in powder. It is amazing that something appears in the image in spite of being below the imaging resolutions limit! This little achievement makes us confident and instills hope.
This test was requested by one of our high-profile customers from Japan and was conducted by our experts more than 5 years ago. Yet, only now after expiring of non-disclosure obligations Terasense feels at liberty to share these results with the general public.
Nowadays, we can offer our high-speed 300 GHz imaging scanner system -designed to serve industrial clients for inline inspection need. The scanner system has much smaller pixel size and pixel pitch of only 0.5mm and can boast much more impressive detection capabilities! Our THz imaging scanner systems, both 2D/matrix and 1D/linear can detect many types of foreign bodies, inclusions, anomalous spots in various dielectric materials.
As usual, we encourage our customers to send their inquiries with regard to any planned use of THz imaging technology whatsoever. However, please be sure to provide a detailed description of your application(s), preferably backed up with photos. A picture is worth a thousands words, after all. This will allow us to evaluate our capabilities much better.