Building a better x-ray analysis machine

The Guardian: Bob Cernik likes using x-rays to probe the nature of materials. The Manchester University professor has been working at the Diamond Light Source synchrotron in Oxfordshire to develop a prototype 3D colour x-ray system to detect hidden explosives, drugs, or even cancer. Cernik's system uses "tomographic energy dispersive diffraction imaging" - or TEDDI.

TEDDI requires an x-ray source with a pencil-thin beam, a collimator (to put the radiation into parallel beams), a detector, and significant data analysis. The synchrotron provides high energies to penetrate dense metal objects, although Cernik will eventually use compact x-ray sources like the ones used in hospitals.

The end result will be a scanner that should be able to display a false color result of interior of a suitcase in under a minute.