“RICHLAND, Wash., Nov. 28 (UPI) — Technology developed to scan air travelers is being used to create a device that can search for bedbugs in houses and hotel rooms, U.S. researchers said.

VisiRay of Corvallis, Ore., has signed an option agreement with Pacific Northwest National Laboratory to create the devices, which would use millimeter wave technology to allow inspectors to see through drywall particle boards and view clear images of pests on the other side of a wall.

The company was started by graduate students from the University of Oregon Lundquist Center for Entrepreneurship.

“PNNL is focused on driving emerging technologies toward outcomes that solve issues of national importance,” Cheryl Cejka, PNNL director of technology commercialization, said in a release.

The agreement is part of the Startup America initiative announced by the White House this year to make licensing new technologies affordable for start-up companies.

The technology was initially developed with Federal Aviation Administration grants to use radio waves to scan passengers, the (Kennewick, Wash.) Tri-City Herald reported Monday. It is used at 78 U.S. airports.

The technology has been licensed for development of a device that could be used in stores to help shoppers select clothing sizes by providing a 3-D holographic image of their bodies, the newspaper said.”

Read more: http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2011/11/28/Radio-waves-to-target-bedbugs/UPI-30551322527931/#ixzz1f9XOlM86

Sounds too good to be true. I’m very skeptical that this would work. Bed bug eggs and nymphs are very little. The only way to effectively search rooms is with the use of a bed bug scent detection canine team.  I can see how “The technology was initially developed with Federal Aviation Administration grants to use radio waves to scan passengers.” But the FAA used this too look for items bigger than nearly microscopic bed bugs.