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. 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'', however 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 (also known as radiotherapy or radiation therapy), diagnostic and interventional radiology (also known as medical imaging), 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 Medical imaging is the technique and process of imaging the interior of a body for clinical analysis and medical intervention, as well as visual representation of the function of some organs or tissues (physiology). Medical imaging seeks to rev ...

techniques such as

magnetic resonance imaging Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a medical imaging technique used in radiology to form pictures of the anatomy and the physiological processes of the body. MRI scanners use strong magnetic fields, magnetic field gradients, and radio wave ...

, ultrasound,

computed tomography A computed tomography scan (CT scan; formerly called computed axial tomography scan or CAT scan) is a medical imaging technique used to obtain detailed internal images of the body. The personnel that perform CT scans are called radiographers ...

and x-ray. Nuclear medicine will include

positron emission tomography Positron emission tomography (PET) is a functional imaging technique that uses radioactive substances known as radiotracers to visualize and measure changes in Metabolism, metabolic processes, and in other physiological activities including bl ...

and radionuclide therapy. However 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. University departments are of two types. 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.

Mission statement of medical physicists

In hospital medical physics departments, the mission statement for medical physicists as adopted by the

European Federation of Organisations for Medical Physics The European Federation of Organisations for Medical Physics (EFOMP) was founded in May 1980 in London to serve as an umbrella organisation representing the national Medical Physics societies in Europe. It took just twenty-seven months from the f ...

(EFOMP) is the following: The term "physical agents" refers to ionising and non-ionising electromagnetic radiations, static electric and

magnetic field A magnetic field is a vector field that describes the magnetic influence on moving electric charges, electric currents, and magnetic materials. A moving charge in a magnetic field experiences a force perpendicular to its own velocity and to ...

s, ultrasound, laser light and any other Physical Agent associated with medical e.g., x-rays in

computerised tomography A computed tomography scan (CT scan; formerly called computed axial tomography scan or CAT scan) is a medical imaging technique used to obtain detailed internal images of the body. The personnel that perform CT scans are called radiographers ...

(CT), gamma rays/radionuclides in nuclear medicine, magnetic fields and radio-frequencies in

(MRI), ultrasound in ultrasound imaging and Doppler measurements. This mission includes the following 11 key activities: #Scientific problem solving service: Comprehensive problem solving service involving recognition of less than optimal performance or optimised use of medical devices, identification and elimination of possible causes or misuse, and confirmation that proposed solutions have restored device performance and use to acceptable status. All activities are to be based on current best scientific evidence or own research when the available evidence is not sufficient. #Dosimetry measurements: Measurement of doses had by patients, volunteers in biomedical research, carers, comforters and persons subjected to non-medical imaging exposures (e.g., for legal or employment purposes); selection, calibration and maintenance of dosimetry related instrumentation; independent checking of dose related quantities provided by dose reporting devices (including software devices); measurement of dose related quantities required as inputs to dose reporting or estimating devices (including software). Measurements to be based on current recommended techniques and protocols. Includes dosimetry of all physical agents. #Patient safety/risk management (including volunteers in biomedical research, carers, comforters and persons subjected to non-medical imaging exposures. Surveillance of medical devices and evaluation of clinical protocols to ensure the ongoing protection of patients, volunteers in biomedical research, carers, comforters and persons subjected to non-medical imaging exposures from the deleterious effects of physical agents in accordance with the latest published evidence or own research when the available evidence is not sufficient. Includes the development of risk assessment protocols. #Occupational and public safety/risk management (when there is an impact on medical exposure or own safety). Surveillance of medical devices and evaluation of clinical protocols with respect to protection of workers and public when impacting the exposure of patients, volunteers in biomedical research, carers, comforters and persons subjected to non-medical imaging exposures or responsibility with respect to own safety. Includes the development of risk assessment protocols in conjunction with other experts involved in occupational / public risks. #Clinical medical device management: Specification, selection, acceptance testing, commissioning and quality assurance/ control of medical devices in accordance with the latest published European or International recommendations and the management and supervision of associated programmes. Testing to be based on current recommended techniques and protocols. #Clinical involvement: Carrying out, participating in and supervising everyday radiation protection and quality control procedures to ensure ongoing effective and optimised use of medical radiological devices and including patient specific optimization. #Development of service quality and cost-effectiveness: Leading the introduction of new medical radiological devices into clinical service, the introduction of new medical physics services and participating in the introduction/development of clinical protocols/techniques whilst giving due attention to economic issues. #Expert consultancy: Provision of expert advice to outside clients (e.g., clinics with no in-house medical physics expertise). #Education of healthcare professionals (including medical physics trainees: Contributing to quality healthcare professional education through knowledge transfer activities concerning the technical-scientific knowledge, skills and competences supporting the clinically effective, safe, evidence-based and economical use of medical radiological devices. Participation in the education of medical physics students and organisation of medical physics residency programmes. #Health technology assessment (HTA): Taking responsibility for the physics component of health technology assessments related to medical radiological devices and /or the medical uses of radioactive substances/sources. #Innovation: Developing new or modifying existing devices (including software) and protocols for the solution of hitherto unresolved clinical problems.

Medical biophysics and biomedical physics

Some education institutions house departments or programs bearing the title "medical biophysics" or "biomedical physics" or "applied physics in medicine". Generally, these fall into one of two categories: interdisciplinary departments that house biophysics, radiobiology, and medical physics under a single umbrella; and undergraduate programs that prepare students for further study in medical physics, biophysics, or medicine. Most of the scientific concepts in bionanotechnology are derived from other fields. Biochemical principles that are used to understand the material properties of biological systems are central in bionanotechnology because those same principles are to be used to create new technologies. Material properties and applications studied in bionanoscience include mechanical properties (e.g. deformation, adhesion, failure), electrical/electronic (e.g. electromechanical stimulation,

capacitors A capacitor is a device that stores electrical energy in an electric field by virtue of accumulating electric charges on two close surfaces insulated from each other. It is a passive electronic component with two terminals. The effect of a ...

, energy storage/batteries), optical (e.g. absorption, luminescence, photochemistry), thermal (e.g. thermomutability, thermal management), biological (e.g. how cells interact with nanomaterials, molecular flaws/defects, biosensing, biological mechanisms such as mechanosensation), nanoscience of disease (e.g. genetic disease, cancer, organ/tissue failure), as well as computing (e.g. DNA computing) and agriculture (target delivery of pesticides, hormones and fertilizers.

Areas of specialty

The

International Organization for Medical Physics The International Organization for Medical Physics (IOMP) is a professional organization for medical physics with nearly 22,000 members in 84 countries. Objectives and History IOMP is charged with a mission to advance medical physics practice wo ...

(IOMP) recognizes main areas of medical physics employment and focus.

Medical imaging physics

Parasagittal MRI of human head in patient with benign familial macrocephaly prior to brain injury (ANIMATED)

Medical imaging physics is also known as diagnostic and interventional radiology physics. Clinical (both "in-house" and "consulting") physicists typically deal with areas of testing, optimization, and quality assurance of diagnostic radiology physics areas such as radiographic X-rays, fluoroscopy,

mammography Mammography (also called mastography) is the process of using low-energy X-rays (usually around 30 kVp) to examine the human breast for diagnosis and screening. The goal of mammography is the early detection of breast cancer, typically through d ...

, angiography, and

, as well as non-ionizing radiation modalities such as ultrasound, and MRI. They may also be engaged with radiation protection issues such as dosimetry (for staff and patients). In addition, many imaging physicists are often also involved with nuclear medicine systems, including single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) and

(PET). Sometimes, imaging physicists may be engaged in clinical areas, but for research and teaching purposes, such as quantifying

intravascular ultrasound Intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) or intravascular echocardiography is a medical imaging methodology using a specially designed catheter with a miniaturized ultrasound probe attached to the distal end of the catheter. The proximal end of the cath ...

as a possible method of imaging a particular vascular object.

Radiation therapeutic physics

Radiation therapeutic physics is also known as

radiotherapy Radiation therapy or radiotherapy, often abbreviated RT, RTx, or XRT, is a therapy using ionizing radiation, generally provided as part of cancer treatment to control or kill malignant cells and normally delivered by a linear accelerator. Radia ...

physics or radiation oncologist physics. The majority of medical physicists currently working in the US, Canada, and some western countries are of this group. A radiation therapy physicist typically deals with linear accelerator (Linac) systems and kilovoltage x-ray treatment units on a daily basis, as well as other modalities such as

TomoTherapy Tomotherapy is a radiation therapy modality, in which the patient is scanned across a Radiation therapy#Intensity-modulated radiation therapy .28IMRT.29, modulated strip-beam, so that only one “slice” (Greek prefix “tomo-”) of the target ...

gamma knife Radiosurgery is surgery using radiation, that is, the destruction of precisely selected areas of tissue (biology), tissue using ionizing radiation rather than excision with a blade. Like other forms of radiation therapy (also called radiotherapy) ...

, Cyberknife,

proton therapy In medicine, proton therapy, or proton radiotherapy, is a type of particle therapy that uses a beam of protons to irradiate diseased tissue, most often to treat cancer. The chief advantage of proton therapy over other types of external beam ra ...

, and brachytherapy. The academic and research side of therapeutic physics may encompass fields such as

boron neutron capture therapy Neutron capture therapy (NCT) is a type of radiotherapy for treating locally invasive malignant tumors such as primary brain tumors, recurrent cancers of the head and neck region, and cutaneous and extracutaneous melanomas. It is a two-step proc ...

, sealed source radiotherapy, terahertz radiation, high-intensity focused ultrasound (including lithotripsy), optical radiation lasers, ultraviolet etc. including photodynamic therapy, as well as nuclear medicine including unsealed source radiotherapy, and

photomedicine Photomedicine is an interdisciplinary branch of medicine that involves the study and application of light with respect to health and disease. Photomedicine may be related to the practice of various fields of medicine including dermatology, surgery, ...

, which is the use of light to treat and diagnose disease.

Nuclear medicine physics

Nuclear medicine is a branch of medicine that uses radiation to provide information about the functioning of a person's specific organs or to treat disease. The thyroid, bones, heart, liver and many other organs can be easily imaged, and disorders in their function revealed. In some cases radiation sources can be used to treat diseased organs, or tumours. Five

Nobel laureates The Nobel Prizes ( sv, Nobelpriset, no, Nobelprisen) are awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the Swedish Academy, the Karolinska Institutet, and the Norwegian Nobel Committee to individuals and organizations who make ou ...

have been intimately involved with the use of radioactive tracers in medicine. Over 10,000 hospitals worldwide use radioisotopes in medicine, and about 90% of the procedures are for diagnosis. The most common radioisotope used in diagnosis is technetium-99m, with some 30 million procedures per year, accounting for 80% of all nuclear medicine procedures worldwide.

Health physics

Health physics is also known as radiation safety or radiation protection. Health physics is the applied physics of radiation protection for health and health care purposes. It is the science concerned with the recognition, evaluation, and control of health hazards to permit the safe use and application of ionizing radiation. Health physics professionals promote excellence in the science and practice of radiation protection and safety. *

Background radiation Background radiation is a measure of the level of ionizing radiation present in the environment at a particular location which is not due to deliberate introduction of radiation sources. Background radiation originates from a variety of sources ...

* Radiation protection * Dosimetry * Health physics *

Radiological protection of patients Patients are exposed to ionizing radiation when they undergo diagnostic examinations using x-rays or radiopharmaceuticals. Radiation emitted by radioisotopes or radiation generators is utilized in therapy for cancer or benign lesions and also in in ...

Non-ionizing Medical Radiation Physics

Some aspects of non-ionising radiation physics may be considered under radiation protection or diagnostic imaging physics. Imaging modalities include MRI, optical imaging and ultrasound. Safety considerations include these areas and lasers * Lasers and applications in medicine

Physiological measurement

Physiological measurements have also been 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 Invasive may refer to: *Invasive (medical) procedure *Invasive species *Invasive observation, especially in reference to surveillance *Invasively progressive spread of disease from one organ in the body to another, especially in reference to cancer ...

methods. Measurement methods include

electrocardiography Electrocardiography is the process of producing an electrocardiogram (ECG or EKG), a recording of the heart's electrical activity. It is an electrogram of the heart which is a graph of voltage versus time of the electrical activity of the hear ...

Many of these areas may be covered by other specialities, for example

medical engineering Biomedical engineering (BME) or medical engineering is the application of engineering principles and design concepts to medicine and biology for healthcare purposes (e.g., diagnostic or therapeutic). BME is also traditionally logical sciences ...

or vascular science.

Healthcare informatics and computational physics

Other closely related fields to medical physics include fields which deal with medical data, information technology and computer science for medicine. * Information and communication in medicine * Medical informatics *

Image processing An image is a visual representation of something. It can be two-dimensional, three-dimensional, or somehow otherwise feed into the visual system to convey information. An image can be an artifact, such as a photograph or other two-dimensiona ...

, display and visualization * Computer-aided diagnosis *

Picture archiving and communication system A picture archiving and communication system (PACS) is a medical imaging technology which provides economical storage and convenient access to images from multiple modalities (source machine types). Electronic images and reports are transmitted ...

s (PACS) * Standards:

DICOM Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) is the standard for the communication and management of medical imaging information and related data. DICOM is most commonly used for storing and transmitting medical images enabling the integ ...

, ISO, IHE *

Hospital information systems A hospital information system (HIS) is an element of health informatics that focuses mainly on the administrational needs of hospitals. In many implementations, a HIS is a comprehensive, integrated information system designed to manage all the asp ...

* e-Health * Telemedicine *

Digital operating room Digital usually refers to something using discrete digits, often binary digits. Technology and computing Hardware *Digital electronics, electronic circuits which operate using digital signals ** Digital camera, which captures and stores digital ...

* Workflow, patient-specific modeling * Medicine on the

Internet of Things The Internet of things (IoT) describes physical objects (or groups of such objects) with sensors, processing ability, software and other technologies that connect and exchange data with other devices and systems over the Internet or other comm ...

* Distant monitoring and

telehomecare Telehomecare (THC) is a subfield within telehealth. It involves the delivery of healthcare services to patients at home through the use of telecommunications technologies, which enable the interaction of voice, video, and health-related data. The m ...

Areas of research and academic development

Non-clinical physicists may or may not focus on the above areas from an academic and research point of view, but their scope of specialization may also encompass lasers and ultraviolet systems (such as photodynamic therapy), fMRI and other methods for

functional imaging Functional imaging (or physiological imaging) is a medical imaging technique of detecting or measuring changes in metabolism, blood flow, regional chemical composition, and absorption. As opposed to structural imaging, functional imaging center ...

as well as molecular imaging,

electrical impedance tomography Electrical impedance tomography (EIT) is a noninvasive type of medical imaging in which the electrical conductivity, permittivity, and impedance of a part of the body is inferred from surface electrode measurements and used to form a tomographic ...

diffuse optical imaging Diffuse optical imaging (DOI) is a method of imaging using near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) or fluorescence-based methods. When used to create 3D volumetric models of the imaged material DOI is referred to as diffuse optical tomography, whereas ...

, optical coherence tomography, and

dual energy X-ray absorptiometry Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA, or DEXA) is a means of measuring bone mineral density (BMD) using Spectral imaging (radiography), spectral imaging. Two X-ray beams, with different energy levels, are aimed at the patient's bones. When soft ...

Legislative and advisory bodies

*ICRU: International Commission on Radiation Units and Measurements *ICRP: International Commission on Radiological Protection *NCRP: National Council on Radiation Protection & Measurements *NRC:

Nuclear Regulatory Commission The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is an independent agency of the United States government tasked with protecting public health and safety related to nuclear energy. Established by the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974, the NRC began operat ...

*FDA: Food and Drug Administration *IAEA:

International Atomic Energy Agency The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is an intergovernmental organization that seeks to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy and to inhibit its use for any military purpose, including nuclear weapons. It was established in 1957 ...

*AMPI:

Association of Medical Physicists of India Association may refer to: *Club (organization), an association of two or more people united by a common interest or goal *Trade association, an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific industry *Voluntary associatio ...

*AAPM:

American Association of Physicists in Medicine The American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) is a scientific, educational, and professional organization of Medical Physicists. In 2011, it absorbed the American College of Medical Physics Their headquarters are located at 1631 Princ ...

*CCPM:

Canadian College of Physicists in Medicine Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

*EFOMP:

*ACPSEM:

Australasian College of Physical Scientists and Engineers in Medicine The Australasian College of Physical Scientists and Engineers in Medicine (ACPSEM) is a professional organisation for medical physicists, biomedical engineers and allied professionals in Australia and New Zealand. The ACPSEM was first incorporat ...

References

External links

Human Health Campus, The official website of the International Atomic Energy Agency dedicated to Professionals in Radiation Medicine. This site is managed by the Division of Human Health, Department of Nuclear Sciences and ApplicationsAustralasian College of Physical Scientists and Engineers in Medicine (ACPSEM)Canadian Organization of Medical Physicist - Organisation canadienne des physiciens médicauxThe American Association of Physicists in MedicineRomanian College of Medical Physicistsmedicalphysicsweb.org
from the Institute of Physics
AIP Medical Physics portalInstitute of Physics & Engineering in Medicine (IPEM) - UKEuropean Federation of Organizations for Medical Physics (EFOMP)International Organization for Medical Physics (IOMP)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Medical Physics Applied and interdisciplinary physics