OSI Systems, a vertically integrated provider of specialized electronic products for critical applications in the security and health care industries, announced Rapiscan Systems has deployed its advanced imaging technology body scanners at the Heathrow and Manchester International Airports in the U.K.
OSI Systems, a vertically integrated provider of specialized electronic products for critical applications in the security and health care industries, announced Rapiscan Systems has deployed its advanced imaging technology body scanners at the Heathrow and Manchester International Airports in the U.K.
The deployments follow the announcement by the UK Department for Transport that it will use the imaging technology systems in wake of the failed terrorist incident on Northwest Airlines Flight 253 on Dec. 25, 2009. The mandate calls for the use of these systems in airports in the U.K. for the screening of passengers. The scanner throughput should assist the processing of passengers at the Heathrow and Manchester Airports, two of the busiest airports.
"We believe the imaging scanner is particularly well-suited for the needs of high-throughput airports such as Heathrow and Manchester. Its backscatter technology provides significant detection benefits, while at the same time it offers the best passenger throughput of any available screening system," said Ajay Mehra, President of Rapiscan Systems.
The solution has been approved by the US Transportation Security Administration and is currently being deployed at airports in the U.S. It uses advanced backscatter technology and proprietary image processing software to rapidly detect potential threats on passengers at aviation checkpoints. The scanner is designed to help screeners detect potential threat objects concealed on passengers. Using backscatter imaging technology and proprietary image processing software, the system offers advantages over alternatives such as metal detectors and hand searches, because it can help screeners comprehensively detect nonmetallic threats and explosives, as well as metal objects.