Rapiscaners DO penetrate through to Bone!
 

The inventor of the backscatter devices admitted this:

"Steven W. Smith, who invented the X-ray body scanner used at checkpoints, has said that the images do penetrate slightly beneath the skin, allowing the operator to see shin bones. But they can’t see ribs or internal organs. "

see it at this recent news article: TSA Airport Scanners Wouldn’t Catch an Implant Bomber

Remember how Bart swore up and down that they can't see bones? I think his pants are at least smoking. If they can see through to bone, do you think they can't see other parts of your anatomy that you'd rather not display to some random stranger?

Get your manufacturers brochure with sample images here.

The first item on the list of applications is:

• Civil Security: airports, seaports, railways, bus stations

This company is basically in the medical imaging business. In my 5 minutes of looking, I didn't find any particular connection to the security sector. Virtual Imaging is a subsidiary of Canon USA. Politically, these will never "fly" with the TSA because there are no ex-DHS or TSA officials in the company that I can find.

Regadless, I can't see how they can limit exposure just to the victim, since their equipment is wide open. I don't have enough time to compare dosages between these machines and the Chertoff Cancer Machines. Still, x-ray radiation is x-ray radiation and the physics and cancer risks don't change because of different manufacturers.

The cancer risk is because the radiation is concentrated on the skin and near-skin level anyway. If I were a medical professional who owned an imaging service, I would make it abundantly clear to their sales people that my continued business would be directly related to their corporate decisions regarding the TSA.

Swore up and down? I'm not so sure about that. However, it is true that portions of the shin bone are barely visible on the AIT. That's because there is very little tissue in that part of the body between the bone and skin surface. But the AIT does not penetrate the body in a manner that it's a skeletal image like you might have seen in True Lies, Total Recall or any other sci-fi movie, as the title of your thread seems to indicate.

It gives me a warm fuzzy feeling knowing that if the shinbones are visible, then males working for the TSA are taking some serious testicular dosages.

Shin bones and face bones. You're getting dosed...I'd hate to be an ff going through these things, or someone standing near them all day....and nobody knows anything much about the safety of these intense surface bombardments. Other than, it *should* be fine. Waiting for cancer clusters to show up on the TSA workers seems like a pretty poor way to test for safety. I keep on thinking about those thousands of motorcycle cops holding those old radar guns down next to their family jewels before they found out the hard way about the effects of radiation.

Hopefully that will lead to an inability to procreate.

I'm also comforted knowing that if a terrorist is "bad to the bone" they will be found out!

I think it would be insanely reckless to stand around these devices all day. Remember, there was also a time when the government swore it was OK to stand around in the desert and watch atomic bombs go off, and all the protection you needed was a pair of sunglasses.

I don't wish health problems on anyone but I despair at the thousands of poor, blind, trusting TSOs who are flirting with testicular / ovarian / prostate / etc. cancer here.

I didn't realize there were so many medical experts on this board.

It's not expertise you're seeing, it's healthy, intelligent skepticism. If I were you I'd wear a big lead smock to work.

Intelligent skepticism? OK. If you say so.

By the way, how long have you been sitting in front of your computer (assuming it's a PC or desktop)? The radiation you're exposed to in an AIT during a 6 second scan is miniscule compared to sitting in front of a computer, even far less than in front of a TV. Do you wear a smock at the computer? When watching TV?

Sorry, the lot of your comments comes across as fear and superstition. No intelligence involved at all.

That's what you've been told so you'll keep coming to work. It's sort of sweet that you believe it, but in my view unwise.

Perhaps your colleague arrested with a passenger's iPad in his pants was just trying to protect the hydraulics... although that doesn't explain the other $50k worth of stolen goods.

OK, exactly how much energy does the AIT put out and at what energy level?

Well, at least that puts us all on the same level as TSA.

Bart -- What is the source for your information here?