SBIR Phase II: Advanced Terahertz Image Processing Systems

这个小型企业创新研究(SBIR)第二阶段项目将解决企业和政府组织面临的最严重的物理安全漏洞之一，即进出建筑物的实物、快递和邮件。根据美国邮政服务的数据，每年大约收到3500封含有白色粉末的信件。在最好的情况下，这封信是一个恶作剧，导致暂时停工和生产力损失。在最坏的情况下，粉末可能是炭疽、蓖麻毒素或芬太尼，导致住院或死亡。最近，阿片类药物的流行也发展成为一种国家健康危机，很大一部分阿片类药物通过国际邮件系统进入美国。对这些材料的非侵入性检测也存在大量未得到满足的需求。该项目将通过太赫兹扫描仪正面应对这些挑战，该扫描仪可以对邮件中微量的粉末和液体以及包括武器和爆炸物在内的常规威胁进行成像。这项工作的重点是开发自动化图像分析工具，以提高其有效性。如果成功，该项目将解决关键的公共健康和安全挑战。该项目的智力优势集中在图像处理和计算机视觉技术的开发上，以利用多维、动态的三维(3-D)太赫兹成像数据集。目前，没有一种商业上可行的方法能够从太赫兹成像数据流中自动实时检测威胁。该项目旨在开发强大的技术，既增强操作员的能力，又自动检测特定的威胁。一个挑战是在移动的参照系的背景下检测液体或粒子的运动--例如，隐藏在移动的包裹中的小袋子内的液体的运动。主题太赫兹成像系统能够检测单滴液体(50毫克)，并实时成像炸药中粉末的运动。该项目的另一个重点领域将是将3-D太赫兹数据集与从其他传感器输入收集的上下文信息以及由于设备的连接性质而收集的外部来源相结合。这些信息与太赫兹数据的融合将提供无与伦比的检测能力，并在动态、3-D成像和威胁检测领域产生深远影响。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project will address one of the most significant physical security gaps facing corporations and government organizations alike, namely physical goods, deliveries, and mail items moving in and out of buildings. According to the US Postal Service, approximately 3,500 letters containing white powders are received each year. In the best case, the letter is a hoax resulting in temporary shut-down and lost productivity. In the worst case, the powder may be anthrax, ricin, or fentanyl, resulting in hospitalization or death. Recently the opioid epidemic has also grown to become a national health crisis, with a large fraction of opioids entering the U.S. via the international mail system. There is a large unmet need to non-invasively detect these materials as well. This project will address these challenges head-on with a terahertz scanner that can image trace amounts of powders and liquids in the mail, along with conventional threats including weapons and explosives. The effort is focused on developing automated image analysis tools to increase its effectiveness. If successful, the project will address critical public health and safety challenges.The intellectual merit of this project centers on the development of image processing and computer vision techniques to capitalize on the multidimensional, dynamic three-dimensional (3-D) terahertz imaging dataset. No commercially viable approaches are currently capable of automatically detecting threats in real-time from terahertz imaging data streams. This project aims to develop robust techniques to both enhance the capabilities of a human operator and automatically detect specific threats. One challenge is the detection of liquid or particle motion within the context of a moving reference frame – such as the motion of liquid within a small pouch, which is itself concealed within a moving package. The subject THz imaging system is capable of detecting single drops of liquid (50 mg) and imaging the movement of powders within explosives in real-time. Another focus area for the project will be the integration of the 3-D terahertz data set together with contextual information gleaned from other sensor inputs, as well as external sources due to the connected nature of the device. The fusion of this information with the terahertz data will provide unparalleled detection capabilities and have far reaching impacts in the field of dynamic, 3-D imaging, and threat detection.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.