{"id":779,"date":"2011-04-20T22:59:56","date_gmt":"2011-04-21T02:59:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.vassar.edu\/ltt\/?p=779"},"modified":"2011-05-05T14:25:36","modified_gmt":"2011-05-05T18:25:36","slug":"advanced-imaging-technology-ait-outline-and-sources","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/ltt\/?p=779","title":{"rendered":"Advanced imaging technology (AIT): Outline and Sources"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">Outline<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\"> <\/span><\/p>\n<p>I. How does advanced imaging technology (AIT) work?<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Instead of relying on absorption of x-rays, backscatter systems view images through the scattering of x-ray photons\n<ul>\n<li>Elements with fewer protons tend to scatter x-ray protons, while elements with more protons tend to absorb x-ray protons<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Characteristics:\n<ul>\n<li>Narrow, low-intensity x-ray beam<\/li>\n<li>2d images are simultaneously taken of a person&#8217;s front and back<\/li>\n<li>Images allow more detailed identification of organic material<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>II. How effective is AIT?<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Backscatter patterns are generally effective\n<ul>\n<li>A backscatter system has the potential to create an extremely detailed image of a person&#8217;s body, regardless of how much clothing they are wearing<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>A backscatter scanner would likely miss a weapon or explosive store in a bodily cavity<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>III. Even with the stigmatic concept of radiation, are there actual negative health effects that AIT scanners cause in humans?<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>People, politicians and scientists were less concerned about radiation exposure before World War II\n<ul>\n<li>Political opposition developed post-World War II due to pressures from scientific community<\/li>\n<li>Fruit fly studies showed mutation in cells due to x-ray exposure<\/li>\n<li>International Commission on Radiological Protection implemented a no-acceptance on radiation<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Safe levels of radiatioon in humans\n<ul>\n<li>Single whole-body dose of 15 rem of radiation is safe<\/li>\n<li>70 rem of radiation per year is safe<\/li>\n<li>These numbers are sensitive to cancer-prone individuals<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Backscatter radiation levels\n<ul>\n<li>5\u00a0 microrem of low energy radiation exposure<\/li>\n<li>Radiation levels are 3 millions times lower than the safe dose of 15 rem<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Backscatter radiation put into perspective\n<ul>\n<li>Cosmic radiation on a one-way flight from Frankfurt to New York exposes passengers to a dose of about 35 Sv of radiation, whereas the dose of a backscatter scan is about .1 Sv<\/li>\n<li>Backscatter produces radiation exposure equivalent to two minutes flying on an airplane<\/li>\n<li>In 42 minutes of living, a person is exposed to more radiation from natural sources than used in AIT x-ray security systems<\/li>\n<li>Various organizations have approved of backscatter usage, including the Food and Drug Administration, the Center for Devices and Radiological Health, National Institute for Standards and Technology, John&#8217;s Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory and, of course, the Transportation Security Administration<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>IV. What personal concerns are raised by AIT?<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Health concerns\n<ul>\n<li>AIT screening is safe for everyone including children, pregnant women, the elderly and people with medical implants<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ol>\n<li>Privacy concerns\n<ul>\n<li>Highly detailed scans produce &#8220;nude&#8221; images of passengers\n<ul>\n<li>Images are at times saved by federal agencies\n<ul>\n<li>Saved images have been leaked to the public before, notably by the technology blog Gizmodo<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>The use of scanners in airports may breach child pornography laws<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Images produced by the scanner can be modified to be less revealing\n<ul>\n<li>Passengers&#8217; gentials, buttocks and breasts could be blurred in the image produced by the scanner<\/li>\n<li>Modifying the image decreases the scanner&#8217;s effectiveness at detecting explosives and other weapons<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">Bibliography<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\u201cAirport full body scanners and pregnancy.\u201d <span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists<\/span>. 2011. &lt;http:\/\/www.rcog.org.uk\/womens-health\/clinical-guidance\/airport-full-body-scanners-and-pregnancy-query-bank&gt;.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Cavoukian, Ann. \u201cWhole Body Imaging in Airport Scanners: Activate Privacy Filters to Achieve Security <em>and<\/em> Privacy.\u201d <span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner<\/span>. 12 March 2009. &lt;www.ontla.on.ca&gt;.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Hamilton, Jon. \u201cNew Airport Body Scans Don\u2019t Detect All Weapons.\u201d <span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">NPR<\/span>. 14 January, 2010. &lt;http:\/\/www.npr.org\/templates\/story\/story.php?storyId=122499686&gt;.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Hupe, Oliver. \u201cSecurity scanners for personnel and vehicle control: quantities and dose values.\u201d<em> European Journal of Radiology<\/em> 63.2 (2007): 237-241.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Johnson, Joel. \u201cOne Hundred Naked Citizens: One Hundred Leaked Body Scans.\u201d <span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">Gizmodo<\/span> 16 November, 2010. &lt;http:\/\/gizmodo.com\/#!5690749\/these-are-the-first-100-leaked-body-scans&gt;.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Kiltou, Demetrius. \u201cBackscatter body scanners\u2014A strip search by other means.\u201d <em>Computer Law<\/em><em> &amp; Security Report <\/em>24.4 (2008): 316-325.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Lord, Steve. \u201cAviation Security: TSA is Increasing Procurement and Deployment of the Advanced Imaging Technology, but Challenges to This Effort and Other Areas of Aviation Security Remain.\u201d <span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">United States Government Accountability Office<\/span>. 17 March 2010. &lt;http:\/\/www.gao.gov\/products\/GAO-10-484T&gt;.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>McCullagh, Declan. \u201cFeds admit storing checkpoint body scan images.\u201d <span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">CNET<\/span> 4 August 2010. &lt;http:\/\/news.cnet.com\/8301-31921_3-20012583-281.html&gt;.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">Transportation Security Administration<\/span>. 2011. &lt;http:\/\/www.tsa.gov\/&gt;.<\/li>\n<li>Travis, Alan. &#8220;New scanners break child porn laws.&#8221; <em>The Guardian<\/em>. 4 January 2010. &lt;http:\/\/www.guardian.co.uk\/politics\/2010\/jan\/04\/new-scanners-child-porn-laws&gt;.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">U.S. Food and Drug Administration.<\/span> 2011. &lt;http:\/\/www.fda.gov\/&gt;.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Outline I. How does advanced imaging technology (AIT) work? Instead of relying on absorption of x-rays, backscatter systems view images through the scattering of x-ray photons Elements with fewer protons tend to scatter x-ray protons, while elements with more protons tend to absorb x-ray protons Characteristics: Narrow, low-intensity x-ray beam 2d images are simultaneously taken [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":856,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-779","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/ltt\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/779","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/ltt\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/ltt\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/ltt\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/856"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/ltt\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=779"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/ltt\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/779\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":819,"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/ltt\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/779\/revisions\/819"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/ltt\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=779"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/ltt\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=779"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/ltt\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=779"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}