Syllabus for PHYS 30632: Physics of Medical Imaging 11/12
| PHYS30632 | Physics option unit |
| Prof. G. Parker / Dr. J. Naish | Credit rating: 10 |
Physics of Medical Imaging
This course is designed to demonstrate how imaging methods utilize physical principles to address problems in clinical diagnosis, patient management and biomedical research.
Prerequisites: The equivalent of the following core physics courses:
PHYS10071, PHYS10121, PHYS10302, PHYS10342,
PHYS20141, PHYS20171, PHYS20312
Follow-up units: Postgraduate research
Classes: 23 lectures in semester 6
Assessment: 1 hour 30 min examining in May/June
Recommended texts:
Because of the breadth of the material, students will be provided with a reading list and/or detailed notes as appropriate.
Feedback
Feedback will be available on students' individual written solutions to examples sheets, which will be marked, and model answers will be issued.
Aims:
· To illustrate, using medical imaging, how physics is applied to the problems of clinical measurement, diagnosis, patient management and biomedical research.
· To provide an understanding of the phenomena and processes of medical imaging.
Learning outcomes
On completion, students will be able to:
1. identify the major medical imaging methods and methods used in biomedical research
2. describe the physical processes underlying major medical imaging modalities including
a. Positron emission tomography (PET) and single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT)
b. Ultrasound imaging
c. X-ray imaging and X-ray computed tomography (CT)
d. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
3. understand the essential mathematical concepts of image formation and reconstruction
4. describe methods for generating 2D and 3D medical images
5. explain the properties of medical images
6. describe a variety of applications of medical imaging techniques
Syllabus
1. Introduction to medical imaging (1 lecture)
The role of physics in medical imaging and the range of imaging methods.
2. Ultrasound imaging (2 lectures)
Transducers, properties of the ultrasound beam, interaction of the beam with the patient, acoustic impedance, scanning modes, Doppler ultrasound and flow imaging.
3. X-ray imaging and X-ray CT (4 lectures)
X-ray tubes and the generation of X-rays, X-ray spectrum, interaction of X-rays with the patient, attenuation, image receptors, X-ray image properties, measurement noise, contrast, resolution, X-ray computed tomography (CT), 2-D and 3-D imaging, filtered back projection, Hounsfield Units.
4. Image mathematics and introductory image processing (2 lectures)
Digital image representation, Fourier reconstruction methods, iterative reconstruction, modulation transfer functions, 2D convolution, image filtering and noise reduction, image segmentation, image registration.
5. Positron emission tomography (PET) and single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) (3 lectures)
Radioisotopes, radiotracers and molecular imaging, scintillators, gamma cameras, resolution, sensitivity, collimators, coincidence, PET-CT and SPECT-CT, tracer kinetic modeling.
6. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) (7 lectures)
Basic concepts of MR physics, spin polarization, resonance, relaxation, spin echoes, gradient echoes, spatial encoding using magnetic field gradients, k-space and image reconstruction, relaxation enhancement, MRI scanner hardware, diagnostic utility and clinical MRI, functional MRI, MR spectroscopy, chemical shift.
7. Other imaging modalities in medical research (2 lectures)
Magnetoencephalography, electrical impedance tomography, electroencephalography, high frequency ultrasound, diffuse optical tomography, optical coherence tomography.
21 lectures in total plus 2 for revision and worked examples