Department of Physics, Unit Catalogue 2011/12 |
|
 Credits:
| 6 |
| Level:
| Honours (FHEQ level 6) |
| Period: |
Semester 1 |
| Assessment:
| EX 100% |
| Supplementary Assessment: | Mandatory extra work (where allowed by programme regulations) |
| Requisites:
| Before taking this unit you must take PH10007 and take PH10008. Students must have A-level Physics in order to undertake this unit. |
| Description:
| Aims: The aim of this unit is to introduce the application of physics and engineering to medicine, for both diagnosis and therapy. Learning Outcomes: After taking this unit the student should be able to: * outline the diagnostic and therapeutic uses of x rays, gamma rays, radio frequency radiation, magnetic fields, electrons, neutrons, radionuclides and ultrasonic waves; * describe the physical principles underlying specific areas of medical imaging and ionising radiation therapy; * relate the quality of medical images to the physical principles underlying the equipment associated with their production, use, measurement and evaluation; * perform basic calculations on medical applications of ultrasound, ionising radiations and magnetic resonance imaging; * describe the principles of measurement of physiological actions, and associated means of signal processing and interpretation; * develop an awareness of the magnitude of physiological signals obtained from the human body. Skills: Numeracy T/F A, Problem Solving T/F A. Content: Introduction to course (1 hour): Introduction to applications of physics and engineering to medicine. Structure of course, lecturers, style of lectures. Expectations. Hospital environment and patient focus. Careers in Medical Physics and Engineering. X-ray imaging and MRI (5 hours): Physical properties of body tissues. Generation and character of photon beams, absorption and scattering processes in tissue. Radiodiagnostic techniques and equipment, plain radiography, fluoroscopy, computed tomography. Principles of dosimetry. Radiation protection. Production of cross-sectional images of tissue properties, and function, using nuclear magnetic resonance imaging. Radiotherapeutic techniques (2 hours): Teletherapy, brachytherapy. Clinical applications and treatment planning. Generation and character of therapy beams of ionising particles, electrons, and heavier particles. Nuclear medicine (5 hours): Radioactivity, nuclear transformations, radionuclide production and radiopharmaceuticals, radiation detection and measurement. Equipment, clinical practice, imaging and non-imaging, therapy. Radionuclide dosimetry. SPECT and PET techniques. Ultrasonics (5 hours): Generation and description of ultrasonic fields; Near field and far field, focused fields and pulsed fields. Attenuation, absorption and scatter of tissue. Pulse-echo and Doppler methods. Imaging system design. Arrays. Clinical applications. Physiological measurement (4 hours). Bioelectric potentials: cardiac, neurological, muscular sources: transducers, signal processing, interpretation: flow and pressure measurement, safety. |
| Programme availability: |
PH30035 is Optional on the following programmes:Department of Physics
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