The question of whether airport scanners can detect health issues like inflammation reflects a desire to understand the capabilities and limitations of these complex machines. Inflammation is the body’s natural biological response to injury, infection, or irritation, typically characterized by swelling, redness, heat, and pain. While these physical signs are part of a physiological process, the technology used for security is designed with a completely different purpose. The core function of airport screening is to ensure public safety by identifying prohibited items, not to provide medical diagnostics.
The Technology Behind Airport Security Scanners
The full-body imaging devices commonly used in airport security are known as Advanced Imaging Technology (AIT) scanners, which primarily rely on millimeter wave technology. These devices emit low-power radiofrequency waves, a form of non-ionizing electromagnetic radiation, which means they do not have enough energy to damage cells or DNA. This is a significant difference from medical imaging devices like X-rays.
The millimeter waves transmit through a person’s clothing and then reflect off the skin or any solid or liquid objects concealed beneath the clothing. A series of transmitters and receivers capture these reflections to create a generalized outline of the person. This technology essentially measures the contrast in density and shape between the body’s surface and any foreign items. The resulting image is a representation of the body’s contour and any anomalies resting on it.
Millimeter wave scanners are fundamentally different from walk-through metal detectors, which use magnetometry to sense disruptions in a magnetic field. By measuring reflected energy, millimeter wave scanners are able to detect a wide array of materials, including both metallic and non-metallic items like certain plastics, powders, or liquids. The technology is designed to see what is on the surface of the body beneath the clothing, not what is happening inside the body.
The Security Focus of Screening Technology
The primary objective of airport scanning technology is the detection of concealed weapons, explosives, and contraband materials that pose a threat to air travel safety. The system is programmed to achieve this goal through sophisticated software known as Automated Threat Recognition (ATR). This software analyzes the reflection data from the millimeter waves to identify any items that interrupt the body’s natural contour.
The ATR algorithm is specifically trained to flag anomalies that suggest a solid, concealed object. When an object with an unusual shape, size, or density contrast is detected, the software highlights the corresponding area on a generic human outline. The system is entirely focused on materials that are foreign to the body, such as high-density materials or non-metallic objects exhibiting a suspicious profile.
Why Inflammation is Invisible to Current Scanners
Airport scanners cannot detect inflammation because the physiological process of inflammation does not create the specific physical properties the technology is designed to identify. Inflammation involves localized changes deep within the body’s soft tissue, such as increased blood flow, the accumulation of fluid, and the swelling of cells. These internal, soft-tissue changes do not result in a significant enough change in surface density or a distinct material contrast to be registered as an anomaly by millimeter waves.
Millimeter wave technology only checks the contour of the body. It lacks the penetrating power and resolution required to image internal biological processes. The waves largely reflect off the skin and concealed objects, not biological structures beneath the skin.
There is a common misconception that the localized heat associated with inflammation or a fever would be detected. However, millimeter wave scanners do not measure temperature; they measure reflected electromagnetic energy to determine shape and density. While thermal scanners have been used in airports for screening severe fevers during public health crises, these are separate infrared devices and are not integrated into the function of the body scanner itself.