Japanese researchers develop Thz imaging camera for search-and-rescue and biomaterial detection

Iwao Hosako at the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology and Naoki Oda at the Guidance and Electro-Optics Division of NEC Corporation, both in Koganei, Japan, have developed aTerahertz (THz) camera that operates at video frame rate to provide stand-off imaging for search-and-rescue in fire disasters and also label-free biomaterial detection.

The camera incorporates a quantum-cascade laser light source, and a microbolometer focal-plane array. The camera is based on one previously designed, but with improved power and sensitivity. THz imaging offers many potentialadvantages over visible and infrared imaging but developing practical systems has proved expensive and many applications for THz imaging remain to be developed. The researchers eventually hope to develop imaging systems useful in a range of applications from preventive health care to quality control, surgery, and nondestructive evaluation.

The full article may be read online on theSPIE Newsroom.

--Posted by Conard Holton
Vision Systems Design