DETECTION OF CONTRABAND ON THE PERSON BY MEANS OF NUCLEAR MAGNETIC RESONANCE (FROM NEW CONCEPTS SYMPOSIUM AND WORKSHOP ON DETECTION AND IDENTIFICATION OF EXPLOSIVES PROCEEDINGS, 1978 - SEE NCJ-58392)

• NCJ Number: 58401
• Author(s): W L ROLLWITZ; J D KING; J R GONANO
• Date Published: 1978
• Length: 4 pages
• Publication Format: Document
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

A PRELIMINARY ASSESSMENT OF USING NUCLEAR MAGNETIC RESONANCE (NMR) AS A MEANS FOR RAPIDLY DETECTING EXPLOSIVES AND OTHER CONTRABAND CONCEALED ON THE PERSON CONCLUDES THAT IT CAN BE SUCCESSFUL.

Abstract

THE AIM IN COUNTERTERRORISM OR CUSTOMS INSPECTIONS IS TO DETECT CONTRABAND SUCH AS EXPLOSIVES OR NARCOTICS CARRIED ON THE PERSON. THE DETECTION SYSTEM SHOULD BE RELIABLE, REASONBLY ECONOMICAL, AND SENSITIVE ENOUGH TO DETECT SMALL AMOUNTS OF CONTRABAND WITHOUT SENDING OFF FALSE ALARMS. BEFORE AN NMR SYSTEM CAN BE APPLIED, EXPERIMENTS ARE NEEDED TO ESTABLISH OPTIMUM CONFIGURATION FOR INSPECTING HUMANS, AND TO ESTABLISH THE MINIMUM DETECTABLE AMOUNTS OF THE VARIOUS TYPES OF CONTRABAND. THE DEVELOPMENT OF SPECIAL HYDROGEN-TRANSIENT NMR DETECTION EQUIPMENT, HAS BEEN ADVANCED BY THE DISCOVERY OF MEANS TO DISCRIMINATE BETWEEN HYDROGEN NMR SIGNALS FROM EXPLOSIVES AS OPPOSED TO SIGNALS FROM OTHER MATERIALS AND BY A MEANS TO ACHIEVE HIGH SENSITIVITY WITH LARGE INSPECTION VOLUMES. THE IDEALIZED SYSTEMS CONFIGURATION FOR THESE NMR DETECTION EQUIPMENT HAS THE POTENTIAL ADVANTAGE OF PROVIDING 'WALK THROUGH' INSPECTION. HOWEVER, ACHIEVEMENT OF THIS OBJECTIVE MAY PLACE UNREALISTIC REQUIREMENTS ON PORTIONS OF THE SYSTEM, BUT THERE ARE WAYS IN WHICH THESE PROBLEMS CAN BE RESOLVED. THERE ARE SEVERAL OTHER POTENTIALLY USEFUL MEANS AVAILABLE FOR IMPLEMENTING THE NMR TECHNIQUE FOR INSPECTING PERSONS FOR CONCEALED CONTRABAND. THESE SENSOR CONCEPTS, WHEN USED WITH APPROPRIATE AUXILIARY ELECTRONIC INSTRUMENTATION PROVIDING THE REQUIRED RADIO FREQUENCY SIGNALS, THE AMPLIFICATION AND DETECTION FUNCTIONS, AND THE REQUIRED SIGNAL PROCESSING, COULD PROVIDE A PRACTICAL MEANS FOR RAPIDLY DETECTING THE PRESENCE OF SUSPECT MATERIALS. IT IS BELIEVED THAT THE NMR TECHNIQUE COULD BE EMPLOYED SAFELY WITHOUT PRODUCING ANY ADVERSE HEALTH EFFECTS. FURTHER STUDY IS NEEDED OF THE DETECTION PERFORMANCE AND THE HEALTH PHYSICS OF NMR DETECTION. PHOTOGRAPHS, ILLUSTRATIONS, AND A GRAPH ARE INCLUDED. (KCP)