1. Medical Physics McMaster University
Makan Farrokhkish
Victoria Gu
Alborz Gorjizadeh
Medical Physics McMaster University

2. Combination of disciplines
Diagnostic Imaging
Imaging or treatment planning: clinical/medical applications
Radiation Therapy
Treatment planning
Health Physics
Radiation monitoring
Radiation protection
Radiation dosimetry
Diag Imaging – Applications you are all aware of, x-ray, ct, mri images
Radiation therapy – a major current aspect of treating cancer
Health physics – science of limiting industrial exposure to radiation

3. Underlying commonality: Radiation
Radiation=misunderstood public, viewed as a negative thing, but has a lot of very useful applications. In Medical physics we not only study the effects of radiation but we also use practically in medicine.
But how do we make radiation useful: cancer treatment, its properties allow for good imaging techniques,
How do we make radiation useful?

4. What imaging techniques do we currently use?

5. X-rays and CT (computer tomography)

6. X-rays and CT (computer tomography)
-xray production
-xrays through patient
-some tissues attenuated better than others
-map out attenuation coefficients
-if it’s attenuated where normally isn’t something, shows up.

7. X-rays and CT (computer tomography)
Clinical
-xray production
-xrays through patient
-some tissues attenuated better than others
-map out attenuation coefficients
-if it’s attenuated where normally isn’t something, shows up.
CT = multi-projection XRAY IMAGES
IMAGE INDICATIVE OF LUNG CANCER

8. X-rays used in cancer research
X-rays used to characterize elemental quantity in cancerous and normal cells: Fe, Zn, Ca
X-ray production – via particle accelerator
Results have diagnostic potential
-xrays directed at tissue: where are these x
-knock out inner shell electrons, characteristic xrays result
-surgical application
-goal: characterization via program that computes probability of cancer based on this elemental quantification

9. PET – Positron Emission Tomography
Detection of radioactive nuclides injected into body
Provide functional information of the organ
Glucose uptake visualization
Tachnetium-99m : 140keV gamma rays
What is it (abbreviation)
What are they used for: radioactive glucose (how do they make it), goes to tumours- high metabolism, can see it.
-coupled with CT for better localization
-what radiation are we detecting

10. PET + CT functional + structural information
Clinical
PET + CT functional + structural information
-dont know where the tumour is on a PET scan, can’t treat it. Coupled with a CT but this gives you a dose, want to avoid, so want to couple with MRI.
At McMaster:
Development of breast- and cardiac- dedicated PET cameras
Development of simultaneous PET/MRI scanners for preclinical and clinical application

11. PET machine at Mcmaster nuclear facility?

12. MRI- magnetic resonance
Clinical
Does this involve radiation?
What are we imaging?
H1, P31
Research: neuroanatomy of the brain
An MRI machine uses a powerful magnetic field to align the magnetization of some atomic nuclei in the body,
and radio frequency fields to systematically alter the alignment of this magnetization.
This causes the nuclei to produce a rotating magnetic field detectable by the scanner—and this information is recorded to construct an image of the scanned area of the body.[1]:36 Magnetic field gradients cause nuclei at different locations to rotate at different speeds. By using gradients in different directions 2D images or 3D volumes can be obtained in any arbitrary orientation.
MRI provides good contrast between the different soft tissues of the body, which makes it especially useful in imaging the brain, muscles, the heart, and cancers compared with other medical imaging techniques such as computed tomography (CT) or X-rays. Unlike CT scans or traditional X-rays, MRI does not use ionizing radiation.

13. Radiation used in cancer treatment
Clinical
Radiation treatment planning
-radiation physicsts, medical physics who calculate how to control this
-middle image- prostate irradiation

14. Health Physics Radiation monitoring Radiation protection
- Measuring radiation dose and contamination for assessment and control of exposure to radiation
Radiation protection
-Protection of people and environment from harmful effects of radiation
Radiation dosimetry
- Measurement and calculation of absorbed dose
1. Fukushima
2. Ensuring that nuclear plants are following compliances and regulations
3. Measurement and calculation of absorbe dose in matter and tissue from being exposed to radiation

15. How to become a Medical Physicist
Apply and complete level 1 science program;
Requires at least 77-80% in high school courses
Six Grade 12 U/M courses including:
ENG4U, MCV4U, MHF4U, SCH4U, SPH4U
Physical Science or Life Science.
Maintain 6.0 Average
Join the Medical Physics Program
Continue the program in either Co-Op (5 year) or as normal enrollment

16. New Medical Physics Course Outline
Level 1
Physical or Life Science with a focus in math and physics
New Medical Physics Course ‘Physics in Medicine and Biology I’
Level 2
Entrance in Medical Physics, Continued focus in Math in Physics
Level 3
Math and Physics but an more medical physics courses. Some basic programming (matlab) courses
Level 4
Most courses are medical physics. For a complete list of courses see

17. Level 1 Term 1 Term 2 Math 1A03 – First Semester of Calculus
Chem 1A03 – Introductory Concepts of Chemistry
Physics 1B03 – Basic Physics Kinematics Etc.
Math 1B03 – Linear Algebra
Term 2
Math 1AA3 – Second semester calculus, focus on integration
Bio 1A03 – Cellular and Molecular Biology
Med Phys 1E03 – Physics in Medicine & Biology I
Physics 1BA3 or 1BB3 – Mechanics, properties of sound harmonic motion etc.

18. Level 2 Term 1 Term 2 Math 2A03 – Calculus III. Kin 1Y03 – Anatomy I
Med Phys 2B03 – Electricity and Magnetism
Physics 2C03 – Modern Physics, Special Relativity & Quantum
Term 2
Math 2C03 – Differential Equations
Kin 1YY3 – Anatomy II
Med Phys 2C03 – Electronics for Medicine and Biology
Physics 2E03 – Classical Mechanics

19. Level 3 Term 1 Term 2 Math 3C03 – Mathematical Physics I
Med Phys 4T03 – Clinical Applications of Physics in Medicine
Med Phys 4B03 – Radioactivity & Radiation Interactions
Med Phys 3A03 – Communications
Term 2
Physics 3MM3 – Quantum Mechanics I
Bio 2B03 - Genetics
Math 3D03 – Mathematical Physics II
Med Phys 3R03 – Computational Medical Physics, Numerical Methods
Physics 3H03 – Intermediate Physics Labs

20. Level 4 Term 1 Term 2 Med Phys 4D03 – Imaging in Medicine and Biology
Med Phys 4I03 – Introduction to Biophotonics
Med Phys 4R06 – Radiation & Radioisotope Methodology
Med Phys 4Y06 – Senior Thesis
Term 2
Med Phys 4U03 – Radiation Biology
Med Phys 4L03 – Human Clinical Anatomy and Physiology

21. For questions:
Undergraduate Coordinator Dr. Nicholas Bock:
Alborz Gorjizadeh:
Victoria Gu:
Makan Farrokhkish: