An Israeli company has developed an innovative technology, with the help of which chemical substances can be identified from a distance of tens of meters. The Ministry of Internal Security and the US security authorities are already interested
Yuval Dror, Haaretz, voila!
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The spectrometer - a device used to test the light of the stars and analyze their composition and also used by Spirit and Opportunity to analyze the composition of Martian rocks also helps to defend against terrorist attacks. This was revealed by Haaretz newspaper on Friday.
The fight against terrorism will soon receive an innovative technological reinforcement: the Israeli company ITL ("Lasers") has developed a device capable of analyzing and identifying chemical substances remotely, using a laser beam that is not dangerous to the body or eyes. The device will make it possible to check cars and people even from a distance of several tens of meters, and see if they are carrying explosives and drugs, or have come into contact with them.
The CEO of the company, Ami Rob, boasts of nearly 100% success in identifying the materials, according to the tests that have taken place so far. According to him, the Ministry of Internal Security, which has already expressed great interest in the development, should soon sign a contract with the company and plans to test the device in field conditions. The security authorities in the USA also expressed enthusiasm for the device, and the company has already submitted an application for patent registration in Israel and the USA.
ITL, traded on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, specializes in product development - night vision devices, optical sights and more - for security systems and military bodies around the world. At the beginning of 2001, with an investment of 2.5 million dollars, the company began researching and developing a means of detecting toxic gases through remote access. But in a short time it became clear to her that the technology she is working on can help identify additional substances.
The detection system consists of a laser beam, a spectrometer (a device that checks wavelengths) and a computer. Initially, the device fires laser beams at the object being tested. "The molecules or crystals that the beam hits react to it," explains Dr. Mordechai Barstel, director of the company's research group. "Any material that absorbs such a 'blow' from the laser beam emits and scatters light (invisible to the naked eye) in a different way and at wavelengths unique to it, like a fingerprint." The skeptometer "reads" the reflected light, and analyzes the wavelength and the nature of its emission and dispersion. This is where the computer enters the picture: it enters the spectrometer data, and compares it to a database containing the properties of the various materials that were defined earlier. Thus, the computer can present to the operator, in real time, the identification of the materials that the beam hit.
These substances, the company says, can be found on the person's body, clothes or belongings. It can be a few meters or even a few tens of meters away from the system and does not have to stand - and the device will "read" the marks of the material even while moving.
The device will also be used in "civilian" fields
"All the devices on the market require close contact with the object being tested", CEO Rob emphasizes the uniqueness of the system. "At the airport, a special cloth is passed over laptops to detect traces of explosive material, at border crossings the luggage and people go through mirroring and tests using a magnetometer. This is the first time that it will be possible to inspect objects and people without touching them, and from a great distance."
Ami Roderich, business manager in the research group at ITL, details some of the possible applications of the new development: "At airports around the world, a bottleneck is created at the stage when passengers' hand luggage is checked before boarding the plane. Using our device, it will be possible to perform a test in a short time, without human contact. Cars can be checked when they slow down at various crossings, to identify if the car's body has any residues of dangerous substances attached to it." Rob admits that the laser beam cannot penetrate opaque materials, and therefore cannot examine the inside of the closed trunk of a car, but claims that there is no need for such an ability: "Explosives are volatile and 'sticky' substances, and there is no way to escape the contamination of the body , the clothes or objects that are near them - even if they did not come into direct contact with the explosives."
In addition to this, the company is developing a similar device designed to check documents, such as passports or boarding passes, to find out if these documents were near dangerous substances.
At the same time, the development can also be used in more "civilian" areas. An initial model of it is already operating in an American factory for the production of phosphates: the device is installed above a rail that transports the material at a speed of two meters per second, and provides immediate information on the amount of fertilizer present in it. Other uses can be, for example, in a candy factory, where the device will identify chocolate bars in which the amount of sugar is not as required; Or in a drug manufacturing plant, where he can check the dosage of the ingredients in the medicine.
However, the company devoted most of its lecture in recent months to presenting the prototype of the device to the security agencies in Israel and the US. "Since September 11, a lot of money has flowed into the American Department of National Security, which is looking for technologies of the type we developed," Rob explains. According to Dr. Barstal, one of the American bodies is headed by an expert in the field of spectrometry, "who refused to believe that we were able to develop such a thing. She asked a lot of questions and was finally convinced and sent two experts to Israel, who performed additional tests on the prototype - and were favorably impressed." And Rob adds: "We are in an advanced stage of negotiations with two huge American companies, one of which is interested in purchasing a global franchise for the distribution of devices that will be based on our technology." According to him, the Ministry of Internal Security in Israel is already preparing the contract and has even agreed to invest in the development of the prototype for the device required by the police.
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