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Advanced Practices in Medical Physics

Semester 1

The course will consist of six laboratory exercises and a research project. Laboratory exercises will cover topics including biomechanics, optics and medical radiation physics. The research project will allow students the opportunity to apply experimental skills in novel and creative ways while solving problems in medical physics. These problems will include optical characterization of biological tissue, biomechanical analysis of the motion of athletes for improved performance and the analysis of bio-hazardous materials in communal sources. It is expected that students will further refine the problem, perform a detailed literature review, and develop a suitable methodology in addition to an appropriate analysis technique.

Syllabus: 
  • Biomechanics: Gait Analysis using a modern mobile phone
  • Optics of the eye
  • Dual Energy X-Ray Absorptiometry
  • Physics of Gamma Spectroscopy in Nuclear Medicine
  • Image analysis and processing using ImageJ and Matlab
  • Research project
  • Inverse Square Law in medical diagnostics
Evaluation: 

The final grade will be based on the following:

  • Six Laboratory reports of equal weighting                 40%
  • One oral presentation                                                  25%
  • One written project report                                          35%
Learning Objectives: 

On successful completion of this course, students should be able to:

  • Analyze and interpret data relating to human gait using basic signal processing techniques
  • Evaluate the importance of the Inverse Square Law in the practice of medical diagnosis and treatment
  • Perform calculations for the power and position of the appropriate lenses required to correct optical abnormalities of the eye.
  • Perform experiments with dual energy x-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) to determine fracture risk and thereby appreciate the importance of DEXA in diagnostics.
  • Apply theory to the planning and design of experiments that involve the use of radiation and imaging techniques in medical diagnostics
  • Analyze and process images acquired via ionizing and non-ionizing imaging modalities so as to extract or identify specific features, morphology analysis, feature size quantification etc.
PHYS2200

Required Textbook:             

  • Laboratory Manual for PHYS 3300 (available in-house)

Highly recommended

  • Graham Donald T., Cloke Paul J. and Vosper Martin (2012), Principles of Radiological Physics, 6 Rev. Ed., Elsevier Health Sciences ISBN-0702052159; ISBN- 978-0702052156
  • Fujimoto, J.G. and Farkas, D., (2009), Biomedical Optical Imaging, Oxford University Press; 1st Edition. ISBN-10: 0195150449 and ISBN-13: 978-0195150445

Recommended

  • Callister, W. D. and Rethwisch D. G. (2009), Materials Science and Engineering: An Introduction; Wiley, 8th Edition. ISBN-10: 0470419970; ISBN-13: 978-0470419977
  • Andrew Webb, (2003)Introduction to Biomedical imaging, IEEE Press Series in Biomedical Engineering, Wiley-Interscience, John Wiley & Sons, Inc.ISBN-10: 0471237663;ISBN-13: 978-0471237662
  • M. Nordin and V. Frankel (2012), Basic Biomechanics of the Musculoskeletal System; Lippincott Williams & Wilkins Publishers, 4th Edition. ISBN-10: 1609133358; ISBN-13: 978-1609133351

Internet sources

Course Code: 
PHYS3300
Credits: 
3 Credits
Level: 
Level 3

Department of Physics

Faculty of Science and Technology,
The University of the West Indies,
Mona, Jamaica
Kingston 7
Tel: (876) 927-2480
Fax: (876) 977-1595
physics@uwimona.edu.jm

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