Positive detection ... then what ?
Volume 9
processing algorithms , and , more recently , multifunction , high-resolution scintillation detectors . Small form-factor chipsets from the smart phone world have revolutionized several other industries .
Champions Edition
source is part of normal background radiation or non-local as well as whether that radiation is being shielded .
Machine-to-machine communications and the Internet of Things , eReaders , gaming consoles , drones , smartwatches and , now , radiation detectors use the new system-on-a-chip ( SOC ), designed to control the critical functions they offer .
The benefit of these small , yet powerful integrated circuits is that they allow many mathematical calculations to occur in a very small space . So , the computing power necessary for accurate radiation detection can be packaged in a much smaller unit .
The algorithms that identify which form of radiation is present are sophisticated and require a lot of computing power .
( Courtesy of Thermo Scientific )
In the past , a truck full of computers would run what now can fit inside a portable detector the size of a pack of cards . Smaller is better , because detectors are now more mobile — even wearable — and , therefore , less obtrusive and far easier to deploy .
Positive detection ... then what ?
Just how complicated is radiation detection ? Why would it require millions of petaflops ? The most innovative detectors don ’ t just alert security personnel as to whether or not radiation is present . They also can discern whether the
In addition , detectors can distinguish between several different kinds of radioactive materials . This is an important distinction , because security personnel will react quite differently based on which isotope is reported .
Radioactive isotopes such as technetium-99 are commonly used in medical procedures and can trigger an alarm .
For example , a security officer using a sophisticated , high-resolution detector at the entry gate for a government agency office or parking lot would be able to quickly determine whether a visitor attempting entry was carrying a dirty bomb or , instead , had just undergone a medical diagnostic procedure .
Today , most detectors will identify the substance , but don ’ t provide any guidance on what to do given its presence . In the future , detectors will be sophisticated enough to also inform security personnel about which actions to take given the material detected .
Integrated detection and action guidance reduce training costs and means that security designers can provide units to more people without worry-
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