Principles of Odor Recognition by the Olfactory System Applied to Detection of Low-Concentration Explosives

摘要

The Tufts Medical School Nose (TMSN) - a device based on the biological principles by which the vertebrate (canine) olfactory system functions - has been developed to detect the vapor phase signature associated with buried landmines. The device demonstrated it could detect concentrations of 300-500 parts per trillion of vapor phase 2,4 DNT, a compound that accompanies the TNT found in landmines. The TMSN was tested in chambers in association with the Canine Detection Unit at Auburn University and the results were slightly better than the thresholds for dogs detecting this compound. During field tests at Ft. Leonard Wood, MO, the device showed that in automatic detection mode it could detect the presence of the buried TMA-5 antitank and buried PMA-1A anti- personnel landmines placed in known locations. The TMSN also located buried PMA- 1A anti-personnel landmines in a blind test in which the Tufts U. operators didn't know whether or not a mine (or how many mines) was present at nine marked locations. In the blind test, the device correctly found four landmines that were present and made two false positive errors.