MIAMI -- Long lines at airport security checkpoints are a familiar sight. Passengers lug an estimated 4 billion carryon bags onto airplanes worldwide each year.

It's a huge challenge to make sure those bags aren't hiding explosives. X-ray machines and metal detectors can't do it alone.

"The security can be easily breached because the process, right now, is not effective enough to detect traces of explosives," said Dr. Ehud Ganani of TraceGuard Technologies.

Ganani's company claims to have the answer -- a machine called CompactSafe, which he says can detect minute quantities of dry or even liquid explosives.

The company's promotional video shows how it works. A security screener places a bag inside the machine, which uses a combination of air jetting, pressurization and vibration to detect explosives.

"Instead of manually trying to pick up particles from inside or outside of the bag, we have a process that does that effectively and automatically and in a matter of 30 seconds, instead of four to five minutes that it takes today," Ganani said.

Ganani said the machine has been tested thoroughly in laboratories and in Israel's main airport. It eliminates the need to hand-search bags.

"It's a means to make the process currently being used far more effective," Ganani said. "Also, we're going to avoid invading passenger privacy, which is an issue of major concern at airports around the world."

TraceGuard's machine is just now coming on the market. It isn't being used in any airports yet, but Ganani said he hopes to change that.

"We're going to offer CompactSafe for $50,000 apiece," he said. "Compare it with one TSA screener, which costs the government about $70,000 a year. It's almost a no-brainer."

Ganani said the machine can also be calibrated to detect drugs and biohazards like anthrax.

The Department of Homeland Security's science and technology directorate said they've been testing TraceGuard's product. So far, it's still under evaluation.