Micro-X completes field tests of IED X-ray camera

Carbon fibre nanotube (CNT) X-ray manufacturer Micro-X has completed field testing of its latest product, the Argus X-ray camera for detecting improvised explosive devices (IEDs).

The company succeeded in transmitting backscatter X-ray technology-derived images (pictured) from a pre-production version of the Argus to operators at remote locations – including as far as 1,500 metres from the target.

The pre-production version contained all the elements of the production version destined for security and armed forces – the CNT X-ray tube, high power generator, power componentry and imaging software.

Portable backscatter imaging used to detect explosives is in itself revolutionary – the Argus is the only system available.

While a traditional X-ray is an image formed when X-rays pass through an object, backscatter X-ray detects radiation reflected from an object.

Micro-X’s Chief Executive Officer Kingsley Hall said: “This field testing demonstrates two significant capabilities of Argus – the ability to remotely capture high-definition backscatter images through a solid barrier, together with the ability to capture a high-definition image definition of a shallow-buried ordnance.

“We are extremely excited by the way that Argus performed in these realistic scenarios.”

During the tests the Argus X-ray camera captured useful images of IEDs through a metal car door and of anti-personnel mines buried in shallow ground.

Hall said: “Looking ahead, we are confident that Argus can not only transform how the bomb tech community images suspect packages and explosives, but that there is an even wider application to the military, especially clearing large areas of buried explosive hazards such as land mines.

“We are looking forward to putting our product in the hands of customers.”

Picture: Micro-X/explosives imaged with Argus IED X-ray camera