Terrorist plot sparks media interest in detection technology

The company, which is based in Milton Keynes, recently launched a new detection technology that offers a level of sensitivity previously unseen in the security sector, including for example capability to detect extremely small amounts of PETN (Pentaerythritol tetranitrate) – the explosive material found in the Yemen packages.

The technology has been developed by TeknoScan Systems in Canada, a company which has focused on creating the next generation of trace detection and identification technologies.

Immediately after the announcement that explosives had been found in air freight, BBC and local media visited Quantitech, based in Milton Keynes, to investigate the potential for technology to help in the fight against terrorism.

Quantitech Sales Director Dominic Duggan was also interviewed live on BBC Three Counties Radio to explain how the new instrument, the TSI-3000, could be utilised to supplement existing detection methods.

Mr Duggan said: “It was an excellent opportunity for Quantitech to explain how this unique technology could play an important role in explosives detection in the future. We were very happy to talk this through with the media and to help get the message across to a much wider audience.”

The TSI-3000 is a transportable system, able to detect up to 50 target substances (narcotics and explosives) simultaneously, providing complete analysis of a sample in 3 minutes or less.

Originally launched in the UK during the Transport Security Conference at London Olympia in September, the TSI-3000 will also be demonstrated at the Emergency Services Show 2010 at Stoneleigh, 24th to 25th November.