Dual-surface dielectric depth detector for holographic millimeter-wave security scanners

Abstract

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is presently deploying millimeter-wave whole body scanners at over 20 airports in the United States. Threats that may be concealed on a person are displayed to the security operator of this scanner. "Passenger privacy is ensured through the anonymity of the image. The officer attending the passenger cannot view the image, and the officer viewing the image is remotely located and cannot see the passenger. Additionally, the image cannot be stored, transmitted or printed and is deleted immediately after being viewed. Finally, the facial area of the image has been blurred to further ensure privacy." Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) originated research into this novel security technology which has been independently commercialized by L-3 Communications, SafeView, Inc. PNNL continues to perform fundamental research into improved software techniques which are applicable to the field of holographic security screening technology. This includes performing significant research to remove human features from the imagery. Both physical and software imaging techniques have been employed. The physical imaging techniques include polarization diversity illumination and reception, dual frequency implementation, and high frequency imaging at 100 GHz. This paper will focus on a software privacy technique using a dual surface dielectric depth detector method.