Medical device being marketed for homeland security applications.

• Position: SECURITY BEAT: Homeland Defense Briefs

A medical instrument commonly used to peer inside the human body is finding new applications in the homeland security and law enforcement worlds.

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Customs and Border Protection recently purchased 78 endoscopes that were manufactured by Optim Incorporated of Sturbridge, Mass., to look inside gas tanks and other hard to reach spots where smugglers may hide contraband. CBP's northern counterpart, Canada Border Services Agency, is also using the instruments.

The FreedomView 680 endoscope is a hand-held, portable device that combines a high intensity LED light source with a flexible, insertion shaft that can be fully immersed in water, gasoline and diesel fuel, according to the company. It can provide images inside car engines, gas tanks, jet engine...