HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY (Bay News 9) -- A new screening device could one day replace the so-called virtual strip search being used at airports.
At the Tampa International Airport, whole body imagers can see underneath clothing in order to detect weapons.
It's a balance between security and privacy that some travelers find difficult.
Michael Reinpoldt, Executive Director of Thermal Matrix, says that his company's device could be the answer to airport security without privacy invasion.
"Our system can see objects beneath the clothing, but not anatomical features," said Reinpoldt. "The systems that are currently being used are millimeter wave systems, and those systems have privacy issues. They see anatomical features."
It's called Access County IED Technology, or ACT -- and it's being worked on right here in the Bay area.
"It's identifying the individual within the field of view," said Reinpoldt. "It's tracking that individual while he moves and it's right away scanning that individual for concealed objects."
For demonstrative purposes, ACT was recently able to detect a simulated bomb.
According to Thermal Matrix, security officers using the system don't have to wonder where the object is concealed, as it detects dangerous devices blocking body heat.
It works close up or as far away as 100-yards.
"Whether those objects are guns, knives, explosives, liquids, gels, anything hazardous, anything that's concealed under the clothing -- the ACT system can find," said Reinpoldt.
TIA currently has four whole body imagine machines, and representatives say the airport will not change to a different device, but not unless the Transportation Security Administration decides to switch.
