Medical Physics

Introduction - what is medical physics?, what do medical physicists do?, what are the career opportunities in medical physics?, high tech medicine - is there no alternative?, questions for discussion. Part 1 Body physics: human mechanics - introductory anatomy, standing, bending and lifting, walking and running, energy expenditure, energy income; the eye and vision - structure and function of the eye, the response system, social implications of colour perception, the optical system, optical defects and their correction; the ear and hearing - structure and function of the ear, the transmission and measurement of sound, the ear's response, defects of hearing. Part 2 Biomedical measurement: instrumentation - systems, transducers, display devices, transmission methods, computers; electrical signals - biopotentials, the cardiovascular system, electrocardiography, other electrical potential measurements, electrical therapy; pressure - measuring pressure, blood pressure, invasive measurements; optics -fibre optics, endoscopy, lasers; ultrasonics - generation and detection of ultrasound, ultrasound in the body, scanning and imaging, Doppler methods, physiological effects of ultrasound, developments in ultrasound. Part 3 Ionizing radiations and magnetic resonance imaging: x-rays - the nature of x-radiation, the interaction of x-rays with matter, x-ray equipment, the use of x-rays in diagnosis, radiotherapy; radionuclides - radioactive decay, the nature and properties of nuclear radiations, the production of radionuclides, the choice of radiopharmaceuticals, nuclear medicine-radionuclides in action; measuring and controlling radiation - biological effects of radiations, dosimetry, radiation levels, radiation protection; detectors and imagers - photographic methods, ionization methods - gas detectors, excitation methods - solid state detectors, radioisotope imaging - scanners and cameras, tomography - CT scanning, digital subtraction; magnetic resonance imaging -nuclear magnetic resonance, the magnetic resonance scanner, uses of MRI; appendices.