"Medical physics deals with the application of the concepts and methods of physics to the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of human diseases with a specific goal of improving human health and well-being."
A subfield that applies principles of physics to the diagnosis and treatment of diseases.
Radiation Physics: Introduction to the fundamentals of radiation, including sources, types, interactions with matter, and measurement techniques.
Radiation Protection: Study of the principles and techniques used to protect patients, healthcare workers, and the general public from the harmful effects of ionizing radiation.
Radiobiology: Understanding the biological effects of radiation exposure on living organisms, including cell and tissue damage, radiation sickness, and cancer induction.
Medical Imaging: Introduction to the various imaging modalities used in medical diagnosis and treatment, such as X-ray, CT, MRI, ultrasound, and nuclear medicine.
Dosimetry: Measurement and calculation of radiation doses delivered to patients in medical treatments, including external beam radiotherapy, brachytherapy, and radionuclide therapy.
Quality Assurance: Development and implementation of protocols and procedures to ensure the safe and effective use of medical radiation equipment and techniques.
Radiation Oncology: The use of ionizing radiation in the treatment of cancer, including radiation therapy planning, delivery, and patient management.
Medical Instrumentation: The design, development, and use of instrumentation and equipment for medical applications, including diagnostic imaging and radiation therapy.
Medical Statistics: Understanding statistics in medical research, clinical trials, and the interpretation of medical imaging studies.
Clinical Anatomy and Physiology: Knowledge of human anatomy and physiology specific to medical physics applications, including organ systems, tissue structure, and physiological function.
Radiation Physics: This topic deals with the physical characteristics of radiation, its interaction with matter and various methods to measure radiation. Knowledge of this topic is essential for understanding the principles of medical imaging and radiation therapy.
Radiation Protection: This topic is concerned with the protection of patients, staff and the general public from the harmful effects of ionizing radiation. It includes topics such as dose limits, radiation shielding, and radiation safety culture.
Radiation Biology: This topic is the study of the biological effects of radiation on living organisms. It involves understanding the mechanisms and types of damage caused by radiation at the molecular, cellular, and tissue levels.
Medical Imaging: This topic focuses on medical imaging techniques used to diagnose and treat diseases. It includes topics such as X-ray, computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and nuclear medicine imaging.
Radiation Therapy: This topic deals with the use of radiation to treat cancer and other medical conditions. It includes topics such as treatment planning, radiation delivery systems, and quality assurance in radiation therapy.
Dosimetry: This topic is the measurement and calculation of radiation doses delivered to patients during medical procedures. It includes topics such as dose measurement techniques, dose distribution, and treatment planning systems.
Medical Informatics: This topic is the use of information technology to manage and analyze medical data. It includes topics such as electronic health records (EHR), medical coding, and health information exchange (HIE).
Diagnostic imaging: The use of various imaging techniques such as X-rays, CT scans, MRI, and ultrasound to diagnose and monitor medical conditions.
Radiation therapy: The use of ionizing radiation to treat cancerous and non-cancerous tumors by destroying tumor cells.
Nuclear medicine: The use of radioactive materials in the diagnosis and treatment of diseases.
Medical radiation safety: Ensuring the safety of both patients and healthcare professionals by monitoring radiation exposure levels.
Dosimetry: The measurement and calculation of radiation dose distribution in various biological tissues.
Biomedical engineering: Applying engineering principles to develop and design medical devices and technologies.
Health physics: The use of physics to assess and control potential hazards in the medical environment.
Computational modeling and simulation: Using mathematical models and computer simulations to study the effects of radiation on biological tissues.
Radiobiology: The study of the effects of radiation on living organisms.
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI): A non-invasive imaging technique that uses magnetic fields and radio waves to produce detailed images of internal body structures.
"Since 2008, medical physics has been included as a health profession according to International Standard Classification of Occupation of the International Labour Organization."
"Although medical physics may sometimes also be referred to as biomedical physics, medical biophysics, applied physics in medicine, physics applications in medical science, radiological physics or hospital radio-physics..."
"A 'medical physicist' is specifically a health professional with specialist education and training in the concepts and techniques of applying physics in medicine and competent to practice independently in one or more of the subfields of medical physics."
"Traditionally, medical physicists are found in the following healthcare specialties: radiation oncology, diagnostic and interventional radiology, nuclear medicine, and radiation protection."
"Medical physics of radiation therapy can involve work such as dosimetry, linac quality assurance, and brachytherapy."
"Medical physics of diagnostic and interventional radiology involves medical imaging techniques such as magnetic resonance imaging, ultrasound, computed tomography, and x-ray."
"Nuclear medicine will include positron emission tomography and radionuclide therapy."
"One can find Medical Physicists in many other areas such as physiological monitoring, audiology, neurology, neurophysiology, cardiology, and others."
"Medical physics departments may be found in institutions such as universities, hospitals, and laboratories."
"The first type are mainly concerned with preparing students for a career as a hospital Medical Physicist, and research focuses on improving the practice of the profession."
"A second type (increasingly called 'biomedical physics') has a much wider scope and may include research in any applications of physics to medicine from the study of biomolecular structure to microscopy and nanomedicine."