CT Baggage Scanners
When a passenger puts their bags through an X-ray machine, they go through a type of electromagnetic energy. Unlike visible light, human cannot see X-ray. In hospitals there X-ray energy beams can see through skin tissue to detect broken bones, tumors or other injuries. In an airport, X-ray technology is use in CT (computer tomography) scanners. Suitcases from passengers ride along a conveyor belt and pass through the hollow CT scanning machines. The X-rays bounce off the object inside the suitcases, measuring the density and mass of each object. All that data is immediately entered into the computer. CT scanners are more complex than metal detectors and can analyze chemical components in addition to metallic objects. If the density and mass of item in the suitcase match item that are known to be dangerous, the objects are removed from the suitcase.