Terasense first Passive THz body scanner system 3.0 is in the pipeline

Since 2016,  when TERASENSE announced the release of its first active  terahertz security body scanner, we have sold world-wide more than 60 units of that stand-off detection system of various complexity and configurations. So, many of our customers are already pretty familiar with our active THz imaging technology in reflection mode and our Terahertz security screening system, which we call  THz Security Body Scanner - 2.0. There is a short and promotional video posted at the bottom of the web-page for this product that  vividly demonstrates the actual performance of the latest generation of our body scanner 2.0 and allows anyone to judge about its effectiveness.

‘Active’ is just a specific terminology we use. Our THz imaging camera sensor arrays belong to active type of detecting devices simply, because they require an external THz source of THz waves for illumination. (We offer our won  Terahertz generators (IMPATT diodes). This is the only reason, why we use the term ‘active’, as opposed to ‘passive’ systems, which do not require any external illumination and operate using only so-called natural THz emissions of human body.  Active or passive do not imply any health & safety concerns or any detrimental effect on humans associated with the THz waves.

Yet, committed to the concept of continuous improvement and driven by completion in the market, TERASENSE has recently launched R&D efforts aimed at development of its first PASSIVE security screening system/THz body scanner. We are going to code name it THz body scanner 3.0. Just like its predecessor, our body scanner 3.0 is designed to detect various objects hidden under clothes, viz. hand-held weapons, drugs, metallic and non-metallic items, contraband and stolen items etc., you name it. In short, it can detect almost everything, as long as the size of concealed objects is commensurate with the cross-range imaging resolution capabilities, which are pretty impressive.

The picture here shows the first prototype of our passive system, which is fully operational, by the way! It's obvious our new THz body scanner 3.0 is going to include the same big PTFE lens with diameter 300mm and EFL 400mm. However, unlike 2D THz imaging camera that version 2.0 used to employ, the latest edition will utilize a scanning technique with the following parameters.

Scanning :  100 х 100 mm

                         100 x 100 pixels

                          0.4 sec/line

                          45 sec/frame

Image scale is determined by the distance to the object, the field of view, and the size/quality of the lens. Distance to the target object is variable:
           L = 2m   ---  Scale:  4:1                     ||                 L = 4m   --    Scale: 10:1

Presently, two variations of the body scanner system 3.0 are under consideration.   (A) One is based on operating frequency of 75-110 GHz and (B) the other one Operating at the frequency  of 110 – 170 GHz. Both variations are promising and can boast pretty impressive imaging resolution as the slides below vividly show. Terasense research in the attainable cross-range resolution can be briefly presented with a couple of pics below.

Even though it’s premature to announce the release of our new Passive THz body scanner 3.0 right away, we have grounds to believe that day is not far away, as our experts have tested the live prototype and already obtained bunch of perfect THz images, some of which are posted here.

Just like its predecessor 2.0, the newest passive system 3.0 is  can detect all kinds of objects hidden under clothes (viz weapons, drugs, metallic and non-metallic items, contraband etc), but it cannot differentiate between various materials those objects are made of. The primary objective of our ‘body scanner’ is to detect any objects irrespective of their nature hidden under clothes, i.e. detect the mere presence of something hidden under clothes different from human body), which should mark the suspect person for an additional inspection by police or security officers.  Bottom line: operator’s judgement is required during inspection/analysis.

With that being said, what is even more remarkable is that THz images can now be processed by means of artificial intelligence and the results are impressive.

As always, all our customers are welcome to invest in this new prospective Passive THz body scanner 3.0, and enjoy all the privileges of the early bird  that usually catches the best and skims the cream off.  Of course, we do realize that our technology is still regarded by many customers as innovative, which makes them exercise caution in dealing with it,  one passive body scanner 3.0 purchased for research purposes would surely be a perfect investment.