Body Scanner Shapes-up Security and Fashion

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) transferred its Millimeter Wave Holographic Body Scanner technology to the commercial sector. The two companies who have licensed the technology have done so for two very different markets—SafeView is using it for security screening, and Intellifit it using it for body measurement for the clothing industry.

This technology uses millimeter wave array/transceiver technology. The array/transceiver illuminates the human body standing within a cylinder unit or portal with extremely low-powered millimeter waves—a class of non-ionizing radiation not harmful to humans—that penetrates clothing and reflects off the body. The reflected signals are collected by the array/transceiver and sent to a high-speed image processing computer where they form a high-resolution 3D image of the body in less than 10 seconds. This holographic image can be used to identify anything hidden on the body—metal, plastic, ceramic, and other non-metallic items that could be used as weapons. The 3D image can also be used to calculate precise physical measurements.

SafeView, Inc., of Santa Clara, California, licensed the technology in 2002 to incorporate the holographic body scanning technique into its Scout™ Personnel Screening System. In 2006, SafeView was acquired by L-3 Communications, a Fortune 500 company offering products for security, aerospace, military intelligence, and telecommunications.

In 2003, Intellifit licensed the same technology for use in its kiosk designed to image customers for clothing fit. The Pennsylvania-based company worked with PNNL to develop sleek, portable cylindrical units that can scan body measurements of fully clothed clients in less than 10 seconds and give those clients an instantaneous list of their exact body measurements as well as recommendations for brands of clothing that will fit their bodies best. Intellifit has installed these units around the country in retail stores and malls.

Non-Intrusive millimeter waves penetrate clothing to reveal hidden objects of metal and plastic or to measure the human form.

The Millimeter Wave Holographic Body Scanner technology has been granted six patents and has received worldwide recognition, including a 2004 R&D 100 Award, the R&D magazine Editors' Choice Award for Most Promising New Technology in 2004, and a 2005 Federal Laboratory Consortium Award for excellence in technology transfer.