An invasive body scan chair has been announced as the latest technology to help fight against the smuggling of contraband into New South Wales prisons.

Known as the BOSS chair - Body Orifice Security Scanner - the advanced body scanner is able to scan inmates and visitors for pieces of metal as small as a staple.

NSW Corrective Services Commissioner Peter Severin said the chair-shaped scanner will be used to prevent contraband getting into prisons.

"What the equipment does is basically detect any kind of metal, right down to the size of a staple, on a person or even inside a person," he said.

"With contraband getting smaller, and in particular mobile phones, we are increasingly more concerned about them getting into our system, and this piece of equipment will assist us greatly."

A 'Boss II' body orifice scanner, similar to that which will be used in NSW's Goulburn prison. ( Supplied: Corrective Services NSW )

The scanner will be used in maximum and medium security prisons to search for sim cards and mobile phones.

It is already in use in Queensland and Western Australia.

The chair will first be introduced at Goulburn Prison in the NSW southern tablelands.

Goulburn prison made news headlines in the past four months, with some inmates using smuggled phones to take selfies and post them on social media.

Commissioner Severin said controlling the communication of prisoners was essential.

"For us, staying on top of the control of communication is absolutely imperative," he said.

"Mobile phones are, in that context, a great risk, and therefore we need to ensure that we keep those mobile phones outside our jails."

The scanner is made in the United States, and representatives from the manufacturers have come to Australia to train prison guards on how to use them.

It has also been used within the mining industry in Africa to check whether miners are attempting to smuggle out gold nuggets or precious jewels.

The introduction of the BOSS chair comes ahead of the introduction of full-body scanners in prisons across the state.