APPLICATIONS OF NUCLEAR MAGNETIC RESONANCE TO DETECTION & IDENTIFICATION OF EXPLOSIVES (FROM NEW CONCEPTS SYMPOSIUM AND WORKSHOP ON DETECTION AND IDENTIFICATION OF EXPLOSIVES - PROCEEDINGS, 1978 - SEE NCJ-58392)

• NCJ Number: 58400
• Author(s): J D KING; W L ROLLWITZ; A DE LOSSANTOS; J R GONANO
• Date Published: 1978
• Length: 8 pages
• Publication Format: Document
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

RESULTS OF EXPERIMENTS INTO THE POTENTIAL OF NUCLEAR MAGNETIC RESONANCE (NMR) TECHNIQUES SUGGEST THAT THIS TECHNIQUE IS BASICALLY SUITED TO THE RAPID AND RELIABLE DETECTION OF CONCEALED EXPLOSIVES.

Abstract

NMR SYSTEMS FOR EXPLOSIVES DETECTION ARE BASED ON SENSING THE RESPONSE PRODUCED BY THE HYDROGEN CONTENT OF THE MATERIAL BEING TESTED AND THE USE OF PROPRIETARY MEANS FOR ANALYZING THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THESE RESPONSES TO SEPARATE THE SIGNAL COMPONENT ATTRIBUTABLE TO HYDROGEN IN EXPLOSIVES FROM THAT PRODUCED BY HYDROGEN IN OTHER MATERIALS. THE DISCRIMINATION CAPABILITIES OF SUCH A SYSTEM HAVE PROVEN TO BE ADEQUATE TO RELIABLY DETECT A WIDE VARIETY OF EXPLOSIVES IN THE PRESENCE OF ANY OTHER MATERIALS THAT ARE LIKELY TO BE ENCOUNTERED IN MAIL, PARCELS, AND LUGGAGE. USEFUL SOLUTIONS HAVE BEEN DEVELOPED FOR THE MAJOR PROBLEMS ASSOCIATED WITH ATTAINING ADEQUATE SENSITIVITY, ACCEPTABLE DISCRIMINATION, AND SUFFICIENT INSPECTION VOLUME. ALTHOUGH FURTHER WORK IS NEEDED TO PROVE THE TECHNIQUE FOR OPERATIONAL PURPOSES, EXPERIMENTAL NMR INSPECTION SYSTEMS FOR DETECTING AND IDENTIFYING EXPLOSIVES BURIED IN THE GROUND AND CONCEALED IN LETTERS, PACKAGES, AND AIRLINE BAGGAGE HAVE BEEN DEVELOPED. PHOTOGRAPHS, ILLUSTRATIONS, AND TABLES OF TEST RESULTS ARE INCLUDED. (KCP)