Seminars in Roentgenology
Volume 44, Issue 4 , Pages 215-216, October 2009

Letter From the Editor: Body Scan Is Making “Waves”

Article Outline

 

The term “body scan” has taken on a whole new meaning in the security industry. I am not talking about CT or any other type of radiologic study. At airports across the world, including several in the United States, passengers are being screened with “millimeter wave” body scanners. Think “Total Recall,” the 1990 sci-fi adventure movie, in which Mars-bound passengers walked through a security device that clearly displayed their bodies underneath their clothing.

The approximately $170K machines bounce beams of radio waves in the millimeter wave spectrum that are 10,000 times less powerful than a cell phone transmission off the passenger's body.1 The radiofrequency energy reflected back from the body or other objects on the body is used to construct a three-dimensional (3D) image that is projected on a monitor. The scanner, which resembles a tall, gray filing cabinet, is touted as a more effective way of countering potential terrorists because it detects the outline of any solid object, such as plastic explosives, drugs, ceramic knives, or other contraband that conventional metal detectors would miss.2 The process provides “secondary screening.” Passengers randomly chosen for secondary screening have already passed through the conventional metal detector, x-ray, shoes-off security checkpoint.

Jim Spellman, CNN Homeland Security Producer, described his personal experience with the machine at the Baltimore/Washington International Airport as it went into service in April 2008: “The Transportation Security Officer ushered me into an 8-foot high clear plastic tube. I raised my arms as instructed and a sensor silently whizzed around the tube. I was taken into a back room to see the image. There I was in all my glory. My face was blurred out but the rest of my body was clear as day. The black and white 3D image was rotated so I could see every contour of my body, including my private parts. I could see sweat under my arms, the rivets in my jeans and a pack of gum in my back pocket.”3

Because the image is anatomically explicit, millimeter-wave screening is controversial. To deal with privacy concerns, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is offering protections, including blurring of faces, examining the images in a remote room and offering no possibility of images to be stored, printed, transmitted, or reproduced.4 The scanning devices have no internal memory, hard drives, or other data storage devices. They have no modems, network cards, or other data transmission or printing devices.5 The TSA officer sees the scanned image on a stand-alone, non-networked machine located approximately 65 ft away from the security screening area.6 Other passengers or other members of the public are unable to see the images, and TSA officers are not allowed to bring cameras into the area where the images are being viewed. Security officers tending the monitors communicate with another officer at the checkpoint if an alarm is produced. The TSA officer standing next to the booth never sees the image of the passenger.

The machines can scan passengers in seconds—up to 600 people per hour, according to L-3 Communications—the New York-based manufacturer of the machines.1 The scanners are marketed under the name ProVision and are in use at federal courthouses in northern Virginia and Colorado, the Green Zone in Baghdad, and 2 Israeli border checkpoints.7 Information about the ProVision scanner can be found at the L-3 Communications Web site: http://www.dsxray.com.

European Union lawmakers have joined the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in criticizing a new scanner technology that allows airport security staff to see through passengers' clothes, calling it a virtual or electronic strip search.8 Barry Steinhardt, Director of the ACLU's Technology and Liberty Project, released the following statement in June 2008: “The TSA's announcement that it will be expanding the use of whole body scanning machines in airports is a disappointing confirmation of our warnings against expansion of this virtual strip search. Body scanners produce graphic images of travelers' bodies and are an assault on their essential dignity. The safeguards announced by the TSA do not convince us that the technology is acceptable, and we question the supposed voluntary nature of these scanners. Ultimately, we question whether the security value of these scanners is proportional to the cost to flyers' dignity and privacy, and whether they are the right priority for TSA.”9 A staff attorney for the ACLU said “I don't think people are really aware of just how accurate and detailed the images are of their naked body. The temptation is great not to follow procedures when a celebrity or someone well-known is involved.”6 Images of individuals who have been scanned with this device are available at the following Web site: http://www.tsa.gov/blog/2008/05/you-asked-for-ityou-got-it-millimeter.html.

Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport was the first major airport to use this new technology in May 2007 and Phoenix's Sky Harbor International Airport was the first in the United States to test it in October 2007.10, 11, 12 The TSA claimed that 90% of travelers in Phoenix preferred the scan to having a full-body pat down. By the end of 2008, the devices were set to be in operation at 24 US airports and were already in use at airports in Britain, Spain, Japan, Australia, Mexico, Thailand, and The Netherlands.5

The type of body scanning described in this issue of Seminars in Roentgenology is different from that used to scan airport passengers. Airport body scanning is a new development that you may encounter as you navigate through the airport to go to your next radiology meeting. Abdominal imaging is a radiologic procedure that is vital to patient diagnosis, management, and treatment. I thank Dr. Chertoff and all the talented authors who contributed to this issue for their insightful contributions. I hope you find the articles to be a helpful resource in your daily practice.

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References 

  1. Stewart DR. Tulsa World. http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/-screeners-get-closer-look-high-tech-scanner-due-/2008/08/07/3589858.htmAccessed January 15, 2009
  2. Sunday Times: Plane passengers shocked by their x-ray scans. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article504009.eceAccessed January 15, 2009
  3. CNN.com. Behind the scenes: new airport scanner reveals all. http://www.cnn.com/2008/TRAVEL/04/28/body.scanner/index.htmlAccessed January 15, 2009
  4. 5280Denver's Magazine. Full body scanning comes to Denver airport. http://www.5280.com/blog/?p=3174Accessed January 15, 2009
  5. Longley R. USGovernmentInfo (TSA expands whole body scanner searches). http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/rightsandfreedoms?a?fullbodyscan.htm?p=1Accessed January 15, 2009
  6. Weikel D. Los Angeles Times (LAX will use body imaging scanning). http://articles.latimes.com/2008/apr/18/local/me-scanner18Accessed January 15, 2009
  7. Huettel S. Under the radar. Tampabay.com http://www.tampabay.com/news/article798624.eceAccessed January 15, 2009
  8. Airport body scanner sparks criticism. http://www.securityinfowatch.com/article/printer.jsp?id=18212Accessed January 15, 2009
  9. American Civil Liberties Union. ACLU statement on airport body scanning machines. http://www.aclu.org/privacy/gen/35558prs20080606.htmlAccessed January 15, 2009
  10. Reuters. Amsterdam airport deploys body-scanning machines. http://www.reuters.com/articlePrint?articleId=USL1569798620070515Accessed January 15, 2009
  11. CollegeNET Forum. Airport security—Body scanning technology. http://collegenet.com/elect/app/app?service=external/Forum&sp=4214Accessed January 15, 2009
  12. Transportation Security Administration. Whole body imaging. http://www.tsa.gov/approach/tech/body_imaging.shtmAccessed January 15, 2009

PII: S0037-198X(09)00043-1

doi:10.1053/j.ro.2009.05.002

Seminars in Roentgenology
Volume 44, Issue 4 , Pages 215-216, October 2009

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