ICx Technologies [ICXT] has introduced a Raman spectroscopy-based bottled liquid scanner that it plans to offer for aviation checkpoint security in the U.S. and abroad. ClearPoint is a benchtop system, similar in size to benchtop explosive trace detectors, that requires the user to place a bottle inside the system, close the lid, and then press a button for the analysis to begin. It takes 15 seconds or less for the analysis to complete depending on the liquid and the user gets either a go or no-go response, Adam Bingham, a product developer with ICx, tells TR2. ClearPoint can accept containers up to two liters, he says. The system is easily portable and was designed with ease of use in mind, he adds. ICx has begun the process of attempting to get ClearPoint certified by the Transportation Security Administration for inclusion on the agency’s Qualified Product List for Bottled Liquid Scanners, Bingham says. Last fall TSA awarded Smiths Detection a $22 million contract to deliver the company’s Raman-based RespondeR RCI bottled liquid scanner that is integrated into an easy to carry pelican case for identifying liquids in bottles (TR2, Oct. 14). Unlike ClearPoint, ResponseR RCI doesn’t have to be opened and closed each time to analyzed a bottled liquid. TSA currently has 200 of ICx’ Fido PaxPoint handheld liquid screeners deployed to airports. PaxPoint is a vapor trace detector.