Full-body people screening technologies at security checkpoints

Abstract

This paper presents and evaluates presently available people screening technologies in the field of airport security. The introduction provides a definition of security screening, its sub-fields, and frames the topic. Separate sub-chapters investigate screening technologies in the order of their proliferation: metal detectors, back-scatter Xrays, millimeter-wave, and transmitted Xrays. The underlying principles in physics, biological effects (radiation safety), and application history of each technology is succinctly summarized, and the advantages and disadvantages of use thereof is investigated in depth.