(Press-News.org) Has the packet been properly filled? Are there impurities in the chocolate? Have the plastic seams been welded correctly? Is there a knife hidden in the parcel? Answers to all these questions are provided by SAMMI, short for Stand Alone MilliMeter wave Imager. The millimeter-wave sensor is able to see through all non-transparent materials. Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for High Frequency Physics and Radar Techniques FHR in Wachtberg have developed the device, whichat 50 centimeters wide and 32 centimeters high is no larger than a compact laser printer. SAMMI can happily deal with all non-metallic materials. "The system detects wooden splinters lurking in diapers, air pockets in plastic, breaks in bars of marzipan, and foreign bodies in foodstuffs. It can even detect and monitor the dehydration process in plants and how severely they have been stressed by drought," says Dr. Helmut Essen, head of the FHR's millimeter-wave radar and high-frequency sensors department. This makes the scanner extremely versatile – it's just as suitable for industrial product and quality control as for analyzing materials in the laboratory. Because the system can detect dangerous substances such as explosive powder hidden in letters, vulnerable people such as politicians or freight handlers can be protected by millimeter-wave radar.
SAMMI's most striking feature is its ability to pick out the smallest differences in materials – differences that are invisible to x-rays. SAMMI can for example differentiate between the different fillings of chocolates, or between rubber composites that have similar or identical absorption qualities. Another advantage is that the scanner doesn't employ ionizing radiation, which can damage health. It is also low-maintenance, not requiring the regular checks necessary with x-ray tubes.
But how does SAMMI work? Inside the system's housing, there is both a transmitting and a receiving antenna on each of two opposing rotating plates. A conveyor belt transports the sample – perhaps a package whose contents are unknown – between the antennae, while these send electromagnetic waves in a high frequency of 78 GHz. Different areas of the sample absorb the signal to different degrees, leading the varying material composition across a sample to show up in distinguishable contrast. "Basically we examine the scanned objects for dissimilarities," explains Essen. The content of the sample appears in real time on the scanner's fold-out display. If the package contains a knife, even the grain of the handle is discernible. If the handle is hollow, the millimeter-wave sensor would show that, too. The device scans an area of 30 x 30 centimeters in just 60 seconds.
Our system can be operated without safety precautions or safety instructions, and since it weighs just 20 kilograms it's eminently portable. It can also be adjusted to various measuring frequencies," the scientist points out. In future, the researchers aim to "upgrade" the system for terahertz frequencies of 2 THz. "Then we'll be in a position not just to detect different structures but also to establish which type of plastic a product is made from. That's not possible at the moment," says Dr. Essen.
At present, SAMMI is only suitable for spot checks. However, the FHR researchers are working on adapting the millimeter-wave sensor for industrial assembly lines for the fast, automatic inspection of goods. They envision mounting a line of sensors over the conveyor belt, so that in future products can be scanned at a speed of up to six meters per second.
INFORMATION:
Monitoring food with millimeter waves
2011-12-22
[Attachments] See images for this press release:
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
New Upright Vacuum from Advance Delivers Exceptional Cleaning Performance for the Hospitality Market
2011-12-22
Advance introduces the newest addition to the company's upright vacuum product line with the Spectrum 12H Single Motor Upright Vacuum. With high-quality dirt pickup and filtration capabilities, the Spectrum 12H is designed to withstand the demanding environmental conditions and the unique operational needs found in the hospitality market.
"The hospitality industry requires continuous cleaning and carpet maintenance to ensure excellent guest satisfaction," said Bob Abrams, Product Manager for Nilfisk-Advance. "The Spectrum 12H meets these requirements with ...
How to break Murphy's Law
2011-12-22
Murphy's Law is a useful scapegoat for human error: "If something can go wrong, it will." But, a new study by researchers in Canada hopes to put paid to this unscientific excuse for errors by showing that the introduction of verification and checking procedures can improve structural safety and performance and so prevent the application of the "law".
Engineer Franz Knoll of Nicolet Chartrand Knoll Ltd., based in Montreal, Quebec, writing in the International Journal of Reliability and Safety explains that faults and flaws in any industrial product almost always originate ...
Even limited telemedicine could improve developing health
2011-12-22
A lack of infrastructure in developing countries, and particularly in rural areas, often ensures that healthcare provision is absent. Research published in the International Journal of Services, Economics and Management by a team at Howard University in Washington DC suggests a solution to this insidious problem involving the development of telemedicine.
Ronald Leach and colleagues describe a highly asynchronous service model for healthcare delivery. The approach is much cheaper to implement than direct medicine and even less expensive than other approaches to telemedicine ...
Southampton researchers help to outline world's land and water resources for food and agriculture
2011-12-22
Researchers from the University of Southampton have contributed to a major international United Nation's (UN) report into the current status of the world's land and water resources for food and agriculture.
Dr Craig Hutton, Professor Mike Clark, both from the University's GeoData Institute, and demographer Dr Fiifi Amoako Johnson contributed as authors as well external editors to the recent United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation publication, 'State of the World's Land and Water Resources for Food and Agriculture' (SOLAW).
The report notes that with the task ...
Pre-surgery exam rates vary widely among hospitals
2011-12-22
TORONTO, Ont. -- Hospitals vary greatly in the number of patients who see an internal medicine specialist before major non-cardiac surgery, with rates ranging from five per cent of patients to 90 per cent, new research has found.
The findings are important because they suggest there are no commonly agreed upon standards for which patients should have such consultations, said Dr. Duminda Wijeysundera, a scientist at the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute of St. Michael's Hospital and the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES).
As a result, some patients may be ...
Bree Maresca-Kramer M.A. Presents: Keeping Your New Years Resolutions...It is Possible!
2011-12-22
Every year millions of people make new years resolutions to lose weight, shine in their career, improve their relationship, and find more balance in their lives.
However, every year millions of these resolutions are never met...why?
People make these resolutions with good intentions and a desire to change. So what happens? What goes so wrong?
Simply put, the person does not have the precise skills, encouragement, and direction necessary to make their resolutions a reality. This is the reason both men and women today are hiring a professional life coach for assistance! ...
Virginia Tech's Wu Feng unveils HokieSpeed, a new powerful supercomputer for the masses
2011-12-22
Virginia Tech crashed the supercomputing arena in 2003 with System X, a machine that placed the university among the world's top computational research facilities. Now comes HokieSpeed, a new supercomputer that is up to 22 times faster and yet a quarter of the size of X, boasting a single-precision peak of 455 teraflops, or 455 trillion operations per second, and a double-precision peak of 240 teraflops, or 240 trillion operations per second.
That's enough computational capability to place HokieSpeed at No. 96 on the most recent Top500 List (http://www.top500.org/), ...
Acclaimed Life Coach Bree Maresca-Kramer M.A. Presents: A New Year...A New Life...It Is Possible!
2011-12-22
Most people have the best of intentions when it comes to their New Years resolutions. As the year comes to an end, it is only natural to reflect on what we have accomplished and what we still want to change. This is actually what generates the desire within to make the changes needed to get to where we want to be. Whether it is to lose weight, find a significant other, or excel in the workplace for most people this true desire for change does exist.
So what happens?
Why do so many men and women with good intentions and true desire fall short of their New Years resolutions ...
How to build doughnuts with Lego blocks
2011-12-22
Scientists have uncovered how nature minimises energy costs in rings of liquids with an internal nanostructure made of two chemically discordant polymers joined with strong bonds, or di-blocks, deposited on a silicon surface, in an article about to be published in EPJE¹.
Josh McGraw and his colleagues from McMaster University, Canada, and the University of Reading, UK, first created rings of di-block polymers that they liken to building doughnuts from Lego blocks due to the nature of the material used. This material has an internal structure discretised like Lego blocks, ...
Divorce Attorney Recommends Modification of Child Support Order
2011-12-22
In this struggling economy many child support obligors have lost their jobs or have faced a reduction in income. This may qualify for a modification of their child support order.
John Griffith, a Del Mar, California divorce attorney, commented on a recent court ruling involving the modification of child or spousal support.
"Non-custodial parents may not realize that support orders don't adjust just because their situation has altered," said Griffith, who's also a child custody lawyer. "A motion to modify your support order should be filed as soon as ...