CTX (explosive-detection device)
Encyclopedia
The CTX explosive detection device is a family of x-ray
X-ray machine
An X-ray generator is a device used to generate X-rays. These devices are commonly used by radiographers to acquire an x-ray image of the inside of an object but they are also used in sterilization or fluorescence....

 devices developed by InVision Technologies
InVision Technologies
InVision Technologies, Inc. was a publicly traded company based in Newark, California, that manufactured and sold airport security screening devices to detect explosives in passenger baggage...

 in 1990 that uses CAT scans and sophisticated image processing
Image processing
In electrical engineering and computer science, image processing is any form of signal processing for which the input is an image, such as a photograph or video frame; the output of image processing may be either an image or, a set of characteristics or parameters related to the image...

 software to automatically screen checked baggage for explosives. CTX scanners are by far the market leader in explosive detection
Explosive detection
Explosive detection is a non-destructive inspection process to determine whether a container contains explosive material. Explosive detection is commonly used at airports, ports and for border control.-Dogs:...

 systems (EDSs), accounting for approximately 150 out of 161 FAA-certified bomb scanners installed in US airports .

CTX-5000

In 1994, the CTX-5000 became the first computed tomography
Computed tomography
X-ray computed tomography or Computer tomography , is a medical imaging method employing tomography created by computer processing...

 explosive detection system certified by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The certification of the CTX-5000 followed nine years of development. During that time the FAA invested $90 million in explosives detection and nearly $8.6 million in the specific technology. From 1995 to 1997, the CTX-5000 was tested to solve the challenges involved in integrating an explosives detection system into a baggage system and to validate the estimated costs of wide-scale deployment of the systems.

CTX-5000 SP

The CTX-5000 SP scanning system, an improved version of the CTX-5000 for checked baggage, was delivered to the FAA in 1997 and placed at several of the US's busiest and largest airports. From 1997 to 2000, more than 100 of the systems have been purchased by the FAA to install in US airports, according to InVision
Invision
Invision is a synonym for blindness.Invision may also refer to one of the following.*InVision Technologies, formerly a public company, a manufacturer and seller of airport security screening devices to detect explosives in baggage...

.

CTX-5500DS

The CTX-5500DS is an automated explosives detection system that uses computed tomography to characterize materials in checked bags and automatically identify objects that could be improvised explosive device
Improvised explosive device
An improvised explosive device , also known as a roadside bomb, is a homemade bomb constructed and deployed in ways other than in conventional military action...

s. The CTX-5500DS is the most widely used, FAA-certified Explosives Detection System in the world. It can be used for either standalone applications or in an integrated manner with airport baggage handling systems. It can also be configured to detect other types of contraband material. The CTX-5500DS has an FAA-certified throughput of 384 bags per hour. Its Dynamic Screening (DS) capability offers flexibility by allowing manual or automatic switching between various screening modes.

CTX-2500

The CTX-2500 is a small-sized explosives detection system that is half the length of earlier CTX models. The CTX 2500 utilizes a single rotating X-ray source to acquire positioning images and CT-slice images, thus achieving its smaller size. The CTX 2500 system is the first FAA-certified Explosives Detection System (EDS) mounted on a truck for easy mobility and access to cargo. One of the units costs approximately USD $700,000.

CTX-9000

The CTX-9000 DSi system is the world's fastest FAA-certified Explosives Detection System, handling 542 bags per hour. It features alternate operational modes yielding even higher throughputs. The CTX-9000 DSi is designed for integrated airport installations. Its 1-metre wide conveyor coordinates with standard airport baggage handling systems. The system's architecture utilizes modular components, helping to ease scanner upgrading and servicing. The scanner contains 4 active radiation-shielding curtains. In addition, the gantry rotates at 120 RPM, enabling a slice image to be generated within half a second. A high-speed RF
Radio frequency
Radio frequency is a rate of oscillation in the range of about 3 kHz to 300 GHz, which corresponds to the frequency of radio waves, and the alternating currents which carry radio signals...

 data link connects the rotating gantry to the stationary part of the unit. An air-conditioning unit ensures high performance and reliability in hot, dusty and humid airport environments.

Competition

In the late 1990s, L-3 Communications
L-3 Communications
L-3 Communications Holdings, Inc. is a company that supplies command and control, communications, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance systems and products, avionics, ocean products, training devices and services, instrumentation, space, and navigation products. Its customers include...

 developed a competing computerized tomography system that also met FAA approval. In November 1999, the FAA awarded a contract worth up to USD $75 million to L-3
L-3 Communications
L-3 Communications Holdings, Inc. is a company that supplies command and control, communications, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance systems and products, avionics, ocean products, training devices and services, instrumentation, space, and navigation products. Its customers include...

 to purchase up to 60 of its explosive detection systems. The eXaminer
Examiner
The Examiner was a weekly paper founded by Leigh and John Hunt in 1808. For the first fifty years it was a leading intellectual journal expounding radical principles, but from 1865 it repeatedly changed hands and political allegiance, resulting in a rapid decline in readership and loss of...

 3DX 6000 explosive detection system developed by L-3
L-3 Communications
L-3 Communications Holdings, Inc. is a company that supplies command and control, communications, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance systems and products, avionics, ocean products, training devices and services, instrumentation, space, and navigation products. Its customers include...

operates similarly to the CTX system.
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