Medical physics

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Medical physics is a branch of applied physics concerning the application of physics to medicine. It generally concerns physics as applied to medical imaging and radiotherapy, although a medical physicist may also work in many other areas of healthcare. A medical physics department may be based in either a hospital or a university and its work is likely to include research, technical development and clinical healthcare.

Contents 1 Medical imaging 2 Treatment of disease 3 Physiological Measurement Techniques 4 Radiation Protection 5 Medical Computing and Mathematics 6 Education 7 Biomedical engineering 8 See also 9 External links

[edit] Medical imaging

• Diagnostic radiology, including x-rays, fluoroscopy, mammography, Dual energy X-ray absorptiometry, angiography and Computed tomography
• Ultrasound, including intravascular ultrasound
• Non-ionising radiation (Lasers, Ultraviolet etc.)
• Nuclear medicine, including SPECT and positron emission tomography (PET)
• Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), including functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and other methods for functional neuroimaging of the brain.
  • For example, nuclear magnetic resonance (often referred to as magnetic resonance imaging to avoid the common concerns about radiation), uses the phenomenon of nuclear resonance to image the human body.
• Magnetoencephalography
• Electrical impedance tomography
• Diffuse optical imaging
• Optical coherence tomography
• Terahertz radiation

[edit] Treatment of disease

• Defibrillation
• High intensity focussed ultrasound, including lithotripsy
• Interventional radiology
• Non-ionising radiation Lasers, Ultraviolet etc. including photodynamic therapy and LASIK
• Nuclear medicine, including unsealed source radiotherapy
• Photomedicine, the use of light to treat and diagnose disease
• Radiotherapy
• Sealed source radiotherapy

[edit] Physiological Measurement Techniques

Used to monitor and measure various physiological parameters. Many physiological measurement techniques are non-invasive and can be used in conjunction with, or as an alternative to, other invasive methods.

• Electrocardiography
• Electromyography
• Electroencephalography
• Electronystagmography
• Endoscopy
• Medical ultrasonography
• Non-ionising radiation (Lasers, Ultraviolet etc.)
• Near infrared spectroscopy
• Pulse oximetry
• Blood gas monitor
• Blood pressure measurement

[edit] Radiation Protection

• Background radiation
• Radiation protection
• Dosimetry

[edit] Medical Computing and Mathematics

• Medical informatics
• Telemedicine
• Picture archiving and communication systems (PACS)
• DICOM
• Tomographic reconstruction, an ill-posed inverse problem
• Advanced Digital Imaging Solutions Laboratory[ADISL]: [1]

[edit] Education

• United States:
  • CAMPEP Accredited Graduate Programs in Medical Physics:[2]
  • CAMPEP non-Accredited Graduate Programs in Medical Physics:[3]
• Canadian programs: [4]
• Other programs around the world: [5]

[edit] Biomedical engineering

• Biomedical engineering
• Biomechanics
• Functional electrical stimulation
• Dialysis
• Gait analysis
• Prosthetics
• Cochlear implants
• Nanomedicine

[edit] See also

• See also important publications in medical physics

[edit] External links

• www.aapm.org - American Association of Medical Physicists

• www.medphys.ca - Canadian Organization of Medical Physicists

• medicalphysicsweb.org - a community website from the Institute of Physics

• www.ipem.ac.uk - Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine (United Kingdom )

• www.iomp.org - The International Organization of Medical Physics