New Improvements to Millimeter-Wave Body Scanners

The Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) pioneered the development of the millimeter-wave body scanner in the 1990s. PNNL licensed this technology to companies in the security and apparel industries. Millimeter-wave body scanners are ideally suited for applications in high-traffic areas such as airports and retail spaces because the scanners are extremely fast and do not require people to remove outer garments. Since low-power millimeter-waves are non-ionizing, the scanners present no health hazards during scanning operations. The resolution of the resulting imagery enables highly accurate threat detection (for security) and body measurement (for apparel). PNNL is actively engaged in the research and development of methods to continue to improve this technology. This paper will discuss the underlying millimeter-wave scanner technology and new developments that improve the image quality of these systems. New developments in the use of millimeter wave scanning for accurate location identification in radiation therapy may also be utilized.