Airport detection of implanted orthopedic devices.
Since the attacks of September 11, 2001, the United States and other countries have increased airport security. Metal detectors (archway and handheld wand) are used to detect potentially dangerous instruments during airport screening. One consequence is that orthopedic implants are sometimes detected, and patients are detained and searched. The orthopedic literature is inconsistent in its reports on airport screening of patients with orthopedic implants. In this article, I review that literature and examine the factors that make detection of orthopedic implants a less than consistent science.
Ostrum
Robert F
RF
Orthopaedic Trauma, Cooper University Hospital, Camden, New Jersey 08103, USA. robert@cooperhealth.edu
D001359:Aviation; D004574:Electromagnetic Fields; D006801:Humans; D008670:Metals; D019736:Prostheses and Implants; D012637:Security Measures / Q000592:standards*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014195:Travel; D014481:United States
D008670:Metals