A novel Smart Metal Detector (SMD) to detect and locate real threats (e.g. handguns and knives) without interrupting the normal flow of public, thus leading to far more accurate, efficient and cost-effective security screening

枪支和持刀犯罪显然是严重的全球性问题。在过去的10年里，不幸的是，英国经历了**245,632起由刀具或锋利工具引起的刑事犯罪**，其中**1,745起导致死亡。**自2002年以来，手枪在英国造成了8,316人受伤，估计有330人死亡。仅在美国，自2013年以来就发生了2128起大规模枪击事件。**这相当于每天大约发生一次大规模枪击事件**\[枪支暴力档案]。体育馆、竞技场、购物中心、交通枢纽等人流密集的公共场所以及学校和夜总会等其他地方是大规模杀戮、枪支和持刀犯罪的理想目标。这些地方需要**准确和经济高效的高通量筛查**在不干扰公共交通的情况下，对隐藏的威胁，如刀具和枪支进行筛查。然而，现有的穿行金属探测器(WTMD)无法准确区分威胁物品和无害的金属物体，如手表、珠宝和手机。为了避免不断的错误警报，目前的WTMD要求完全剥离财产。**然而，这显著地将吞吐量降低到360-600人/小时，这扰乱了公共交通，增加了延误、排队时间和公众的挫败感。**增加安检通道的数量增加了劳动力成本，这对于场馆运营商来说是令人望而却步的昂贵的，有时甚至是不切实际的。因此，市场对准确和经济高效的检测器的需求仍然存在，能够近乎实时地区分威胁和非威胁项目，以减少完全剥离的需要，从而提高吞吐量。**METRASNS，**快速增长的英国中小企业和**Rapiscan，**全球安检产品提供商，**与**曼彻斯特大学**新型电磁系统专家**合作开发一种真正新颖的威胁检测系统。**智能金属探测器**使用复杂的发射和接收线圈阵列，通过测量每个人携带的所有金属物体的特征(磁极化张量)，并将这些特定特征与先前分类的物体库进行比较，来识别和定位任何威胁对象。这减少了完全剥离的需要，因为探测器将准确地区分真正的威胁和无害的金属物体。智能金属探测器代表着安全检查技术的范式转变，将能够准确地区分物品，特别是手枪和刀具等小物品，而不会干扰公众或中断公共交通。由于全球有大量的城市软目标，该项目将显著促进英国的出口，增加安全性，并改善游客体验。

Gun and knife crime are clearly severe global problems. In the last 10 years, the UK has unfortunately experienced **245,632 criminal offences** caused by knives or sharp instruments, of which **1,745 resulted in deaths.** Since 2002, handguns have caused 8,316 injuries and killed an estimated 330 people in the UK \[ONS\]. In the US alone, there have been 2,128 mass shootings since 2013\. **This translates to approximately one mass shooting per day** \[Gun Violence Archive\].High footfall public areas such as stadia, arenas, shopping centres, transportation hubs and other places such as schools and nightclubs represent the ideal targets for mass killings, gun and knife crime. These places require **accurate and cost-effective high throughput screening** for concealed threats such as knives and guns without disrupting public flow.However, existing Walk-Through Metal Detectors (WTMD) fail to accurately discriminate between threat items and harmless metallic objects such as watches, jewellery and mobile phones. To avoid constant false alarms, current WTMD require full divestment of possessions. **However, this significantly reduces throughput rates down to 360 - 600 people/hour, which disrupts public flow, increasing delays, queuing time and public frustration.** Increasing the number of screening lanes increases labour costs, which is prohibitively expensive and sometimes impractical for venue operators.Thus, an unmet market need exists for an accurate and cost-effective detector, capable of discriminating threat vs. non-threat items in near real-time to reduce the need to fully divest and thus increase throughput.**METRASENS,** a rapidly growing UK SME and **RAPISCAN,** a global provider of security screening products, are partnering with the **UNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTER,** experts in novel electromagnetic systems to develop a truly novel threat detection system.Using a sophisticated array of transmit and receive coils, the **Smart Metal Detector** will identify and locate any threat object by measuring the signatures (Magnetic Polarisability Tensors) of all metal objects carried by each person and comparing those specific signatures to a library of previously classified objects. This reduces the need to fully divest as the detector will accurately distinguish between genuine threats and harmless metallic objects.The Smart Metal Detector represents a paradigm shift in security screening technology, which will enable the accurate discrimination between items, particularly small items such as handguns and knives, without interfering with the public or interrupting public flow. With a vast number of urban soft targets worldwide, this project will significantly boost UK exports, increase safety and improve the visitor experience.