The new technology of advanced heartbeat detection has helped emergency workers in identifying and rescuing 4 men trapped underneath the rubble following Nepal’s devastating earthquake.
This rescue has revealed the first use of this advanced sensing technology developed by NASA and the Department of Homeland Security. Two prototype units of that system called FINDER (Finding Individuals for Disaster and Emergency Response) had been sent to Nepal after the April 25th earthquake.
Jim Lux, who manages the project at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, said “For me as the developer of the technology, it was like sending a child off to college.” The device is the size of a carry-on bag and is powered with a lithium battery which sends out low-power microwaves. The waves can detect subtle movements like slight pulsing of skin which reveals heartbeats and is able to penetrate up to about 30 feet into the mounds of rubble or about 20 feet into solid concrete.
Team of rescuers from several countries with the help of the FINDER had been able to find men under two building which collapsed, although it is unknown when they had been found and for how long they have been trapped under the building.
A great advantage of the FINDER over microphones and or any other ways of searching people in need of rescuing is that the person does not have to be conscious in order to be found, all that is needed is the pulse of the person within the aforementioned distance of the device. The search for victims is still ongoing and chances of locating more survivors are there although very slim.
The FINDER had first been developed for sensing other planets although 2 companies have started licensing it for the use in search and rescues and has started selling each unit for about $15,000.
The FINDER is still being fine tuned by Lux and his team and they are hoping to add a calibration scale so that users can screen out rescue personnel that may be on the other side of the rubble. A request from anti-poaching teams in southern Africa has also been received for using FINDER for counting rhinos hidden in the bushes.
Lux says, “We need to go to a zoo and make some measurements of rhino heartbeats.”
