Since one of our readers asked about the difference between
millimeter wave and backscatter images in a previous post and
we’ve also seen other blogs get the two confused, we thought
we’d put the correct information and images out there to clear
up any misinformation. Both millimeter wave and backscatter fall
under the classification of whole body imaging, which gives
security officers a virtual image of a passenger that highlights
potentially dangerous items. Here’s the lowdown on the two
technologies: How millimeter wave works: Beams of radio
frequency (RF) energy in the millimeter wave spectrum are
projected over the body’s surface at high speed from two
antennas simultaneously as they rotate around the body. The RF
energy reflected back from the body or other objects on the body
is used to construct a three-dimensional image. The three-
dimensional image of the body, with facial features blurred for
privacy, is displayed on a remote monitor for analysis. The
image is not saved – once it’s off the screen it