zNose® provides enhanced situational awareness and unlike conventional security sensor systems, monitors the complete chemistry of the environment within the airport both in space and time. It identifies abnormal odors or toxic chemicals and in turn lead to an early warning of a dangerous chemical emission. It also tracks the progression of hazardous materials or smoke from a fire within the airport facility. It is an effective investigative tool that provides a recognizable visual image of specific vapor mixtures (fragrances) containing possibly hundreds of different chemical species. It is fast operates over a wide range of vapor concentrations, has picogram sensitivity, and is simple to use and calibrate. It uses pattern recognition and VaporPrint™ technology derived from an integrating solid-state detector. VaporPrint™ images allow a complex ambient environment to be viewed and recognized as part of a previously learned image set. This facilitates quicker assessment of unknown vapors. It is a useful new tool for US customs inspections, forensic laboratories, and many other Federal and State law enforcement agencies.

Traditional IMS (Ion Mobility Spectrometry) technology comes with many loopholes. It is much slower and less sensitive than zNose®. It requires using a swab, and wiping off certain areas outside the surface of the suspected objects like; packages, briefcases, luggage etc., trying to pick up traces of harmful or dangerous substances which are presumably carried inside the object. Then this swab is placed into a special chamber for analysis. This technique can only detect traces & deposits of dangerous particles on the outside of the objects left presumably by the person handling it and can only produce good results if the person who planted the dangerous substance does not wear gloves or does not wash his hands regularly after handling the dangerous materials. Today’s terrorists are well aware of this and know how to protect themselves from being discovered. Slight human error during congested airports, borders, etc. can lead to a major catastrophe as close examination at every step is crucial. Accuracy is also a problem as there are chances of wiping off the wrong surface area or forgetting/mixing of test swabs when luggage is handled by different personnel.

zNose® can operate within a wireless network using either Wi-fi, bluetooth, or RF modems with ranges up to 1 mile. It can also be remotely linked using an Internet connection. Currently the most recent model is completely mobile using a built in connection. The company provides online support for all its products using an internet network connection. This capability could be used within an airport security system to provide oversight by a central monitoring station as well as updating of new threat signatures to every zNose® within the facility.