GE To Combine Video Surveillance, Radiation Detection

  • Dec 19, 2008

GE Global Research recently announced it has been awarded $4.2 million from the Department of Homeland Security to develop an integrated imaging system that combines video surveillance technology with breakthrough radiation detection capabilities.

This new system would provide law enforcement and security personnel with a new tool to protect people from radiological and nuclear threats in a variety of commonly trafficked public settings such as:

  • Government buildings, plazas and other common public areas.
  • Subway terminals.
  • Bridges and tunnels.
  • Airport checkpoints.
  • Sports stadiums.

GE’s integrated imaging system will address a pressing need to detect radioactive materials in moving targets, such as a vehicle passing through a tunnel or a person walking through a subway terminal.

GE’s system, which builds from its successful Intelligent Personal Radiation Locator program for DHS, will use a high-resolution gamma-ray detector, with specialized detection capability, to determine the direction of detected radiation. At the same time, the system will employ an intelligent, state-of-the art video surveillance system to track the location of targets.

The combined system will be capable of detecting and tracking moving sources of radiation, and differentiating threats from benign sources such as naturally occurring background radiation and medical isotopes. Multiple detectors and video cameras will feed data to a centralized computer base station, for data processing and analysis, situational awareness monitoring and reporting.

“GE’s Target-Linked Radiation Imaging system will provide a substantial new capability in the rad-nuke market by detecting and identifying radioactive materials in motion, with unprecedented sensitivity,” said Brian Yanoff, GE Global Research’s principal investigator on the project. “Law enforcement and military personnel will have an innovative new tool to thwart domestic nuclear threats in a variety of different public settings before they can cause harm.

“In addition to enabling a more vigilant response to potentially dangerous threats, this technology also enhances the flow of traffic through checkpoints, border crossings and other places where vehicles and people are scanned or checked.”

GE researchers will work in conjunction with the DHS’ Domestic Nuclear Detection Office on the $4.2 million project. The project is scheduled to last two years, and involves a cross disciplinary team of engineers and scientists from across GE Global Research.

"The combination of state-of-the-art video surveillance technology with cutting-edge radiation detection will help law enforcement officials better protect communities around the world,” said Dennis Cooke, president and CEO of GE Security's Homeland Protection business. “This is yet another great example of GE's commitment to providing more and better advanced technology solutions to help our customers address real world security challenges." technologies".

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