Security

Bristol airport's passengers evaluate Iscon's thermo-conductive mini-portal scanner

Posted 4 February 2013

The Iscon Mini-Portal body scanner, designed for airport screening, corrections and loss prevention, recently completed a successful 'live' test at Bristol airport.

The Iscon scanner was used alongside and in addition to pre-existing security screening processes.

The mini-portal trial test was organised by the ICTS VeriSys service and was conducted under the technical guidance of ICTS VeriSys manager Dr Marian Langford at a checkpoint at Bristol Airport with actual passengers. Five operators from the airport were selected by VeriSys to be trained and then to scan volunteer passengers. Following image training and a technology overview period, hundreds of passengers over a five-day period volunteered to be screened. The Bristol test is a significant milestone in the preparation for approval by the European Civil Aviation Commission (ECAC).

“The Iscon Mini-Portal performed well as a standalone scanner and as an adjunct to the larger existing system,” said Langford. ”Almost 40% of passengers said they actively disliked pat downs or said that they would prefer to be screened by a portal and therefore the appearance of another portal in the security market is very welcome.”

The Iscon video imaging mini-portal features thermo-conductive scanning technology and produces images with the simplicity of a semi-automated scanner system. Iscon said that infrared scanner system safe and reliable, and can detect hidden objects without penetrating clothing, so subjects can rest assured that their privacy will not be violated. The operator never needs to make physical contact with the person being scanned.

“As we continue to expand further into airport and correction facility screening, this evaluation serves as important validation of our technology,” said Izrail Gorian, CEO of Iscon. “It was proven to be highly effective in detecting suspicious items revealed in the whole body scan at the Bristol Airport and significantly less intrusive than a pat down. The mini-portal is also effective as a standalone scanner and completes a whole body scan in less than a minute.”

The Iscon mini-portal can locate a wide variety of contraband including weapons, pills and powdered substances, tobacco, precious metals, gemstones, and other articles of interest.