NSF Award
1113913
This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will develop key components for a lowcost<br/>3D X-ray security checkpoint system based on Laminography, a method of taking multiple<br/>projections of an object and combining these to create three-dimensional (3D) slices of the object.<br/>Current checkpoint X-ray security systems have limitations because they provide only a transmission<br/>image of the object being screened, whereas a 3D image would provide much more relevant information.<br/>A reasonably priced Laminography system has not been implemented due to the unavailability of a<br/>reasonably-priced X-ray source with suitable performance.<br/>This proposed solution overcomes the limitations of current X-ray sources. By employing a dual-grid<br/>dual-cathode source, it is possible to produce a low-cost X-ray source that delivers the cost and<br/>performance required for a low-cost high performance 3D Laminography-based checkpoint system.<br/>Broader Impacts Resulting from the Proposed Activity<br/>The broader impact/commercial potential of this project is based on the development of suitable X-ray<br/>component technology that can be used to upgrade the checkpoint security systems to 3D capabilities at<br/>reasonable prices. The impact is improved security at the checkpoints. The commercial potential comes<br/>from the potential to upgrade several thousand checkpoints with this capability.<br/>Although current aviation security checkpoints provide a strong line of defense, terrorists continue to<br/>analyze and exploit any weaknesses in these defenses. For this reason, it is critical to continually improve<br/>the security checkpoints and security screening equipment, in order to ensure that terrorists are not able to<br/>defeat these systems.<br/>In addition to improving the security at airport checkpoints, the new source can be used to upgrade any Xray<br/>based security system and to improve the performance of conventional Computed Tomography<br/>systems. The X-ray source will be unique and can be used in a broad range of fields that includes<br/>medical imaging, non-destructive testing, X-ray fluorescence, and so forth
