Medical physics is 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.
Of the large body of medical physicists in academia and clinics, roughly 85% practice or specialize in various forms of therapy, 10% in diagnostic imaging, and 5% in nuclear medicine. Areas of specialty in medical physics however are widely varied in scope and breadth.
Areas of Speciality:
- Diagnostic radiology, including x-rays, fluoroscopy, mammography, dual energy X-ray absorptiometry, angiography and computed tomography
- Ultrasound, including intravascular ultrasound
- Non-ionizing radiation (Lasers, Ultraviolet etc.)
- Nuclear medicine, including single photon emission computed tomography (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.
- Magneto encephalography
- Electrical impedance tomography
- Diffuse optical imaging
- Optical coherence tomography
Treatment of disease
- Defibrillation
- Treatment of disease
- High intensity focused ultrasound, including lithotripsy
- Interventional radiology
- Non-ionizing radiation Lasers, Ultraviolet etc. including photodynamic therapy and Lasik
- Nuclear medicine, including unsealed source radiotherapy
- Photo medicine, the use of light to treat and diagnose disease
- Radiotherapy
- Tom Therapy
- Cyberknife
- Gamma knife
- Proton therapy
- Brach therapy
- Boron Neutron Capture Therapy
- Sealed source radiotherapy
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
- electric current
- Electromyography
- Electroencephalography
- Electronystagmography
- Endoscopy
- Medical ultrasonography
- Non-ionizing radiation (Lasers, Ultraviolet etc.)
- Near infrared spectroscopy
- Pulse oximetry
- Blood gas monitor
- Blood pressure measurement
Radiation protection
- Background radiation
- Radiation protection
- Dosimetry
- Health Physics
- Radiological Protection of Patients
Medical computing and mathematics
- Medical informatics
- Telemedicine
- Picture archiving and communication systems (PACS)
- DICOM
- Tomographic reconstruction, an ill-posed inverse problem.
