SEEQR Security has introduced a new explosives detection portal designed to increase the ability of users to detect explosives on people and cargo while eliminating privacy and health concerns.

SEEQR Security says its low-power, radio frequency SEEQR system can detect explosives on a person or in cargo within four seconds with 99 percent accuracy and a false alarm rate of less than one in one million. The company, which is based in Michigan, showcased its latest unit at the annual Association of the United States Army conference in Washington, DC this month.

The company says two of its SEEQR units have been at the Department of Homeland Security’s Transportation Security Laboratory (TSL) for testing with real materials at different power levels to as part of data collection efforts. In the second half of 2015 SEEQR Security expects to deliver one of its units to the TSL again for assessment purposes with the hope of eventually obtaining certification by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), company officials tell HSR.

They say SEEQR is ready for commercialization and deployments could begin as early as next May, the officials say. Potential markets included any location with a checkpoint including airports, military facilities and crossings, corporate and government facilities, borders, and other screening locations such as package screening centers.

The company is the company is exploring potential pilot projects with some customers that don’t require TSA certification, the officials say.  A large scale international pilot that includes at least 10 systems is planned next year and there is the potential for a domestic pilot as well, they say.

SEEQR is a solid-state system based on nuclear quadrupole resonance technology and can plug into standard wall outlets. The system requires only one operator and the technology is scalable, so SEEQR can be used to screen bags, people, cargo and even containers, the company says.

SEEQR is non-invasive and provides a red/green light signal to the user for easy determination of whether an individual represents a threat or not, removing the interpretation required by an operator using Advanced Imaging Technology systems when those machines highlight an anomaly that requires users to make a determination about what to do next, the company officials say.

A person going through the SEEQR portal stops momentarily for the scan to complete. The scan and analysis take less than four seconds to complete. There is no imaging so there are no privacy concerns and the low power radio waves don’t pose health risks to people being scanned, the officials say.

The system is able to detect a range of explosives, including TNT, HMX, PETN, RDX, ammonium nitrate and urea nitrate. While SEEQR can’t detect if someone is carrying a gun or a knife, it can pick up on bullets, the company officials say. They also say that the system can detect explosives whether they are hidden on the exterior or interior of a person.

The next step in the development of SEEQR is to integrate a metal detector to be able to detect metallic threats, the officials say.

A person that is screened by SEEQR doesn’t have to remove their shoes or outerwear, company officials say.

Company officials put the rough price for SEEQR at between $150,000 and $200,000.

SEEQR Security is on the International Air Transport Association’s Smart Security working group that is examining a Checkpoint of the Future.