Are X-Ray Backscatter Scanners Safe for Airport Passenger Screening? For Most Individuals, Probably Yes, but a Billion Scans per Year Raises Long-Term Public Health Concerns

X-ray Compton backscattering imaging via structured light

Compton backscattering imaging (CBI) is a technique that uses ionizing radiation to detect the presence of low atomic number materials on a given target. Unlike transmission x-ray imaging, the source and sensor are located on the same side, such that the photons of interest are scattered back after the radiation impinges on the body. Rather than scanning the target pixel by pixel with a pencil-beam, this paper proposes the use of cone-beam coded illumination to create the compressive x-ray Compton backscattering imager (CXBI). The concept was developed and tested using Montecarlo simulations through the Geant4 application for tomography emissions (GATE), with conditions close to the ones encountered in experiments, and posteriorly, a test-bed implementation was mounted in the laboratory. The CXBI was evaluated under several conditions and with different materials as target. Reconstructions were run using denoising-prior-based inverse problem algorithms. Finally, a preliminary dose analysis was done to evaluate the viability of CXBI for human scanning.

Ambient x-ray pollution assessment at inspection gates of airports- a case study of Mehrabad and Imam Khomeini Airports in Iran

BACKGROUND

As a well-known, physical carcinogen, ambient X-ray pollution assessment would be of great importance in today's modern world. Accordingly, the present study was done to measure the exposure level of ambient X-ray at inspection gates of two airports in Iran. According to which, the X-ray was measured at different points of the inspection gates including closed and opened Curtain, as well as seating place of operators beside the X-ray inspection systems. The recorded data were then analyzed by "sign" and t-tests.

RESULTS

The total average exposure level of the measured x-ray was 2.68 ± 0.73 μsv.h(-1). The measured x-ray exposure level was 2.07 ± 0.61 (μsv.h(-1)) released from RAPISCAN X-ray inspection system and 3.3 ± 1.34 (μsv.h(-1)) emitted from HEIMANN X-ray inspection system. Comparison of average x-ray doses of the systems in both airports showed that the minimum and maximum exposure levels were recorded at 1(m) far from the devices and at the entrance of the devices, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

The exposure levels at all measurement points were lower than the occupational exposure limit. This reveals the fact that the exposed operators are not probably at risk of adverse health effects.

Effect of X-ray exposure on the pharmaceutical quality of drug tablets using X-ray inspection equipment

CONTEXT

X-ray inspection equipment is widely used to detect missing materials and defective goods in opaque containers. Its application has been expanded to the pharmaceutical industry to detect the presence of drug tablets in aluminum foil press-through packaging. However, the effect of X-rays on the pharmaceutical quality of drug tablets is not well known.

OBJECTIVE

In this study, the effect of X-rays on the pharmaceutical quality of drug tablets was investigated.

METHODS

Exposure of acetaminophen, loxoprofen and mefenamic acid tablets to X-ray doses of 0.34 mGy (thrice the dose by X-ray scanning) to 300 Gy (maximum dose from our X-ray equipment) was demonstrated, and the samples were evaluated by formulation tests.

RESULTS

Exposure to X-rays did not affect the pharmaceutical quality of the drug content. The samples exposed to X-rays exhibited almost the same profile in formulation tests (dissolution test, disintegrating test and hardness test) as control samples (0 Gy). The combination of X-ray exposure with accelerated temperature and humidity tests (six months) also did not affect the pharmaceutical quality. The color change of light-sensitive drugs (nifedipine and furosemide tablets) after X-ray exposure was negligible (< 1.0). In contrast, tablet color was remarkably changed by light from a D65 lamp.

CONCLUSION

The X-ray scanning and X-ray exposure under our experimental conditions did not affect the pharmaceutical quality of drug tablets.

Inguinal hernia and airport scanners: an emerging indication for repair?

The use of advanced imaging technology at international airports is increasing in popularity as a corollary to heightened security concerns across the globe. Operators of airport scanners should be educated about common medical disorders such as inguinal herniae in order to avoid unnecessary harassment of travelers since they will encounter these with increasing frequency.

Estimation of organ and effective dose due to Compton backscatter security scans

PURPOSE

To estimate organ and effective radiation doses due to backscatter security scanners using Monte Carlo simulations and a voxelized phantom set.

METHODS

Voxelized phantoms of male and female adults and children were used with the GEANT4 toolkit to simulate a backscatter security scan. The backscatter system was modeled based on specifications available in the literature. The simulations modeled a 50 kVp spectrum with 1.0 mm-aluminum-equivalent filtration and a previously measured exposure of approximately 4.6 μR at 30 cm from the source. Photons and secondary interactions were tracked from the source until they reached zero kinetic energy or exited from the simulation's boundaries. The energy deposited in the phantoms' respective organs was tallied and used to calculate total organ dose and total effective dose for frontal, rear, and full scans with subjects located 30 and 75 cm from the source.

RESULTS

For a full screen, all phantoms' total effective doses were below the established 0.25 μSv standard, with an estimated maximum total effective dose of 0.07 μSv for full screen of a male child. The estimated maximum organ dose due to a full screen was 1.03 μGy, deposited in the adipose tissue of the male child phantom when located 30 cm from the source. All organ dose estimates had a coefficient of variation of less than 3% for a frontal scan and less than 11% for a rear scan.

CONCLUSIONS

Backscatter security scanners deposit dose in organs beyond the skin. The effective dose is below recommended standards set by the Health Physics Society (HPS) and the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) assuming the system provides a maximum exposure of approximately 4.6 μR at 30 cm.