Introduction to Physics in Modern Medicine

by Kane, Suzanne Amador

• ISBN13: 9780415301718
• ISBN10: 0415301718
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2002-11-28
• Publisher: CRC

Summary

The medical applications of physics are typically not covered in introductory physics courses. This volume fills that gap by explaining the physical principles behind technologies such as surgical lasers or computed tomography (CT or CAT) scanners. Each chapter contains a short, self-contained explanation of the necessary scientific background, making this book highly accessible to those without an advanced knowledge of physics. Introduction to Physics in Modern Medicine is intended for students in the field of medicine/health studies requiring an elementary background in physics. But it can also serve as a relatively non-mathematical introduction to this important area of applied physics for undergraduate physics students.

Author Biography

Suzanne Amador Kane graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a B.Sc. in physics and received her Ph.D. in Applied Physics from Harvard University. She is an Associate Professor in the physics department at Haverford College. Her research and teaching interests are biophysics and soft condensed matter physics

Table of Contents

Instructor's preface	ix
Student preface	xi
Acknowledgments	xiii
Introduction and overview	1	(8)
Suggested reading	7	(2)
Fantastic voyage: fiber optics and endoscopes	9	(32)
Introduction	9	(4)
Optics: the science of light	13	(15)
Fiber optics applications in medicine: endoscopes and laparoscopes	28	(7)
Virtual reality in the operating room	35	(6)
Suggested reading	37	(1)
Questions	37	(1)
Problems	38	(3)
Lasers in medicine: healing with light	41	(48)
Introduction	41	(1)
What is a laser?	41	(3)
More on the science of light: beyond the rainbow	44	(3)
How lasers work	47	(5)
How light interacts with body tissues	52	(3)
Laser beams and spatial coherence	55	(4)
Cooking with light: photocoagulation	59	(1)
Trade-offs in photocoagulation: power density and heat flow	60	(1)
Cutting with light: photovaporization	61	(2)
More power: pulsed lasers	63	(2)
Lasers and color	65	(2)
The atomic origins of absorption	67	(4)
How selective absorption is used in laser surgery	71	(3)
Lasers in dermatology	74	(2)
Laser surgery on the eye	76	(3)
New directions: lasers in dentistry	79	(1)
Advantages and drawbacks of lasers for medicine	80	(1)
New directions: photodynamic therapy---killing tumors with light	81	(8)
Suggested Reading	83	(1)
Questions	84	(1)
Problems	85	(4)
Seeing with sound: diagnostic ultrasound imaging	89	(58)
Introduction	89	(3)
Sound waves	92	(2)
What is ultrasound	94	(3)
Ultrasound and energy	97	(1)
How echoes are formed	97	(3)
How to produce ultrasound	100	(3)
Images from echoes	103	(5)
Ultrasound scanner design	108	(6)
Ultrasound is absorbed by the body	114	(4)
Limitations of ultrasound: image quality and artifacts	118	(6)
How safe is ultrasound imaging?	124	(3)
Obstetrical ultrasound imaging	127	(4)
Echocardiography: ultrasound images of the heart	131	(1)
Origins of the Doppler effect	132	(4)
Using the Doppler effect to measure blood flow	136	(1)
Color flow images	137	(1)
New directions: three-dimensional ultrasound	138	(9)
Suggested reading	140	(1)
Questions	141	(1)
Problems	142	(5)
X-ray vision: diagnostic x-rays and CT scans	147	(60)
Introduction	147	(3)
Diagnostic x-rays: the body's x-ray shadow	150	(1)
Types of x-ray interactions with matter	151	(5)
Basic issues in x-ray image formation	156	(7)
Contrast media make soft tissues visible on an x-ray	163	(3)
How x-rays are generated	166	(7)
X-ray detectors	173	(6)
Mammography: x-ray screening for breast cancer	179	(6)
Image arithmetic: digital radiography	185	(4)
Computed tomography (CT)	189	(9)
Application: spotting brittle bones---bone mineral scans for osteoporosis	198	(9)
Suggested reading	201	(1)
Questions	201	(2)
Problems	203	(4)
Images from radioactivity: radionuclide scans, SPECT, and PET	207	(33)
Introduction: radioactivity and medicine	207	(1)
Nuclear physics basics	208	(3)
Radioactivity fades with time: the concept of half-lives	211	(5)
Gamma camera imaging	216	(7)
Emission tomography with radionuclides: SPECT and PET	223	(9)
Application: emission computed tomography studies of the brain	232	(8)
Suggested reading	237	(1)
Questions	237	(1)
Problems	237	(3)
Radiation therapy and radiation safety in medicine	240	(36)
Introduction	240	(1)
Measuring radioactivity and radiation	241	(5)
Origins of the biological effects of ionizing radiation	246	(7)
The two regimes of radiation damage: radiation sickness and cancer risk	253	(9)
Radiation therapy: killing tumors with radiation	262	(9)
New directions in radiation therapy	271	(5)
Suggested reading	273	(1)
Questions	273	(1)
Problems	274	(2)
Magnetic resonance imaging	276	(48)
Introduction	276	(3)
The science of magnetism	279	(5)
Nuclear magnetism	284	(9)
Contrast mechanisms for MRI	293	(5)
Listening to spin echoes	298	(6)
How MRI maps the body	304	(5)
How safe is MRI?	309	(3)
Creating better contrast	312	(2)
Sports medicine and MRI	314	(1)
Breast imaging with MRI	315	(2)
Mapping body chemistry with MR spectroscopy	317	(1)
Brain mapping and functional MRI	317	(7)
Suggested reading	320	(1)
Questions	321	(1)
Problems	322	(2)
Index	324