"The protection of people from harmful effects of exposure to ionizing radiation, and the means for achieving this."
Development and implementation of protocols and procedures to ensure the safe and effective use of medical radiation equipment and techniques.
Introduction to Quality Assurance in Medical Physics: This topic covers the fundamental concepts and principles of quality assurance in medical physics. It includes the roles and responsibilities of quality assurance professionals, regulatory requirements, and the importance of stakeholders in QA.
Quality Management Systems: This topic covers the development, implementation, and maintenance of quality management systems in medical physics. It includes standards and regulations, documentation procedures, and the process of monitoring and improving the quality of services.
Radiation Safety and Radiation Protection: This topic covers the principles and practices of radiation safety and protection in medical physics. It includes the principles of radiation biology, radiation dosimetry, and the methods of reducing unnecessary radiation exposure to patients and staff.
Quality Control and Acceptance Testing: This topic covers the procedures for quality control and acceptance testing of medical physics equipment and systems. It includes the testing of imaging and radiation therapy equipment, calibration procedures, and the standards for acceptance testing.
Quality audit and Quality Improvement: This topic covers the process of auditing and improving quality in medical physics. It includes identifying areas for improvement, monitoring performance metrics, continual improvement cycles, and developing action plans.
Risk Management: This topic covers the process of identifying, assessing, and managing risks associated with medical physics equipment and systems. It includes identifying areas of risk, developing risk assessments, and implementing mitigation strategies.
Data management and Record keeping: This topic covers the effective management and record-keeping of medical physics data. It includes the importance of accurate and complete documentation, data storage and retrieval, and the use of electronic health records.
Personnel Training and Management: This topic covers the training and management of personnel involved in medical physics. It includes the development of training programs, continuing education, and the management of personnel performance.
Standardization and Quality Assurance in Medical imaging: This topic covers quality assurance and standardization in medical imaging. It includes the use of quality control measures in digital imaging, image quality quantification, and the development of imaging protocols.
Quality assurance in Radiation Therapy: This topic covers the application of quality assurance in radiation therapy. It includes treatment planning, dose delivery, and patient safety.
Dosimetry Quality Assurance: This type of QA ensures the accuracy and precision of radiation dose measurements.
Imaging Quality Assurance: This type of QA evaluates imaging quality and accuracy for diagnostic and treatment planning purposes.
Equipment Quality Assurance: This type of QA is essential to ensure the proper functioning of radiation therapy equipment.
Radiopharmaceutical Quality Assurance: This type of QA ensures the purity, safety, and efficacy of radiopharmaceutical preparations.
Treatment Planning Quality Assurance: This type of QA ensures that treatment plans are accurate and optimized for each patient.
Patient Safety Quality Assurance: This type of QA ensures that safety protocols are in place to minimize radiation exposure to patients and staff.
Process Quality Assurance: This type of QA is designed to ensure that all procedures related to radiation therapy are performed efficiently and effectively.
Regulatory Compliance Quality Assurance: This type of QA ensures that all medical physics activities are in compliance with local and national regulations.
Software Quality Assurance: This type of QA ensures that software used for medical physics applications is accurate and reliable.
Accreditation Quality Assurance: This type of QA ensures that clinical facilities and services meet or exceed established standards for quality and safety.
"Exposure can be from a source of radiation external to the human body or due to internal irradiation caused by the ingestion of radioactive contamination."
"At high exposures, it can cause 'tissue' effects, also called 'deterministic' effects due to the certainty of them happening, conventionally indicated by the unit gray and resulting in acute radiation syndrome. For low-level exposures, there can be statistically elevated risks of radiation-induced cancer, called 'stochastic effects' due to the uncertainty of them happening, conventionally indicated by the unit sievert."
"The avoidance or reduction of dose using the simple protective measures of time, distance, and shielding."
"The duration of exposure should be limited to that necessary."
"The distance from the source of radiation should be maximized."
"The source or the target should be shielded wherever possible."
"For external radiation personal dosimeters are used."
"For internal dose to due to ingestion of radioactive contamination, bioassay techniques are applied."
"The International Commission on Radiation Protection (ICRP) and International Commission on Radiation Units and Measurements (ICRU) publish recommendations and data."
"The protection of people from harmful effects of exposure to ionizing radiation."
"Conventionally indicated by the unit gray."
"Tissue effects due to the certainty of them happening, resulting in acute radiation syndrome."
"Statistically elevated risks of radiation-induced cancer due to the uncertainty of them happening."
"The duration of exposure should be limited to that necessary."
"The distance from the source of radiation should be maximized."
"The source or the target should be shielded wherever possible."
"For external radiation personal dosimeters are used."
"Bioassay techniques are applied."
"Recommendations and data used to calculate the biological effects on the human body of certain levels of radiation and advise acceptable dose uptake limits."