Wasit University /College of Dentistry Introduction and concept of Medical Physics

Dr. Amel D. Hussein

Medical Physics

Terminology, Modeling, and Measurements

1-1 Introduction

Medical Physics: Physics of the body is to understanding physical aspects of such

‫تدفق الدم‬
as; forces on and in the body, work, energy, power of the body, heat, blood flow,
‫التنفس‬ ‫الدورة الدموية‬
respiration, electricity, circulation, and hearing, or;

Medical physics: The application of the concept of physics in medicine,

healthcare, and medical sciences. The field of medical physics as we know it today
started the discovery of x-rays and radioactivity in the 1890s.
‫جيل واحد‬
Only a generation ago in England, a professor of physics was a professor of
‫جذر مشترك‬
medicine. The words physicist and physician have a common root in the Greek
‫علم الطبيعة‬
words physique (The Science of Nature).
‫مفاهيم فيزيائية معينة‬
1-2 Particular Physical Concepts
‫يتعامل‬ ‫ظواهر طبيعية‬
Physics: This is a branch of science which deals with natural phenomena as occur
‫الحركة‬
in nature such as electricity and magnetism, light, sound, heat, motion, force,
‫خصائص الغازات السوائل‬ ‫تركيز املادة‬
fluids, gases properties, and concentration of matter.

Medicine: This is a branch of science deals with the human body which is a living
‫الكائنات الحية‬ ‫تتميز‬ ‫التكاثر‬
entity. Living entities are characterized by birth, growth, reproduction, and death.
‫الحماية من االشعاع‬
Health Physics: Involves radiation protection of patients, workers, and the general
‫عامة‬
‫الناس‬ ‫أعضاء‬
public, this name was given to it during world war second by members of the
‫تطوير‬
Manhattan project (the group responsible for the development of the atomic
bomb).

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 ‫وظيفة‬
Wasit University /College of Dentistry Introduction and concept of Medical Physics
Dr. Amel D. Hussein
‫تشخيص‬
Physical Medicine: This is the branch of medicine deals with the diagnosis and
‫عالج‬ ‫االصابات‬
treatment of disease and injury through physical such as massage, exercise, heat,
water, cold.
‫الفيزياء الحيوية‬
Biophysics: Applying physics to living bodies which includes humans, animals,
‫الكائنات الحية الدقيقة‬ ‫الجزيئات الكبيرة‬ ‫ثنائية الجزيئات‬
plants, microorganisms, cells, macromolecules (proteins) fats, and bimolecular.
‫الفيزياء االشعاعية‬
Radiological Physics: Involves the applications of physics to radiological
problems and includes the use of radiation in the diagnosis and treatment of disease
‫الطب النووي‬
as well as the use of radiation nuclides in medicine (nuclear medicine).

1-3 Physics Branches

Physics divided into six major branches

 Classical Mechanics
‫النسبية‬
 Relativity
‫الديناميكا الحرارية‬
 Thermodynamics
‫الكهرومغناطيسية‬
 Electromagnetism
‫بصريات‬
 Optics
‫ميكانيكا الكم‬
 Quantum Mechanics

1-4 Aims of the Medical physics

‫أساليب ومفاهيم‬ ‫وظيفة‬
Application of the concepts and methods of physics to understanding the function
of the human body in health and disease.

1-5 Applications of Physics in Medicine

Medical physics Techniques are used for:

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Wasit University /College of Dentistry Introduction and concept of Medical Physics
Dr. Amel D. Hussein
‫تشخيص‬
a. Diagnostic
‫معالجة‬
b. Therapy
‫مراقبة املريض‬
c. Patient monitoring
1-5- a. Diagnostic
‫سماعة الطبيب‬
1- Stethoscope
‫مقياس ضغط الدم‬
2- Manometer (blood pressure)
‫مقياس ضغط الدم‬
3- Sphygmomanometer
‫مخطط كهربة القلب‬ ‫النشاط الكهربائي للقلب‬
4- Electrocardiograph (ECG) Heart electrical activity

5- X-Ray
‫مخطط كهربية الدماغ‬ ‫النشاط الكهربائي للدماغ‬
6- Electroencephalograph (EEG) Brain electrical activity
‫مخطط كهربية للعضل‬ ‫النشاط الكهربائي للعضالت‬
7- Electromyography (EMG) Muscle electrical activity.
‫وظيفة الغدة الدرقية‬
8- Thyroid function using I¹³¹
‫التصوير املقطعي بالكمبيوتر‬
9- Computer Tomography (CT scan)

10- Ultrasound
‫ضبط الشوكة‬
11- Tuning Fork
‫التصوير بالرنني املغناطيسي‬
12- Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)
‫مقياس الجريان‬
13- Flowmeter
‫مقياس التنفس لدراسة وظيفة الرئتني‬
14- Spirometer to study the function of lungs
‫مقياس السمع‬
15- Audiometer

16- Optics

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Wasit University /College of Dentistry Introduction and concept of Medical Physics
Dr. Amel D. Hussein

17- Laser
‫الكبد‬
18- Gamma camera to study the function of the kidney, liver,
‫الرئتني‬
and lungs.
‫الرنني املغناطيسي النووي‬
19- NMR: Nuclear Magnetic Resonance

1-5 b. Therapy
‫العالج االشعاعي‬
1-Radiotherapy

2-Cobalt sixty (Co sixty)

‫الجهد العالي‬
3-High voltage
‫املوجات فوق الصوتية‬
4-Ultrasound
‫األشعة تحت الحمراء‬
5-Infrared
‫تردد الراديو‬
6-Radio frequency

7-Heating

8-Laser

1-5 c. Patient Monitoring

1-ECG
‫مقياس التنفس‬
2-Spirometer
‫ضغط الدم‬
3- Blood Pressure
‫ميزان الحرارة‬
4-Thermometer

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Wasit University /College of Dentistry Introduction and concept of Medical Physics
Dr. Amel D. Hussein

1-6 Units of Measurement Including (SI Units):

Two types of SI units:

‫الوحدات القياسية‬
1. Physical unit (Standard units)
‫الوحدات غير القياسية‬
2. Physiological unit (Non-standard units)

1-6-1. Physical unit

A. MKS System

M = Meter

K = Kilogram

S = Second

B. CGS System

C = centimeter

G = gram

S = second
‫الوحدة الفسيولوجية‬
1-6-2. Physiological Unit
‫من املناسب‬ ‫الكميات‬
In medicine, it is often convenient to measure quantities in nonstandard units. For
‫وحدة الضغط‬
example, the physical unit of pressure is Newton's per square meter (N/ m2); the
‫التعبير‬ ‫الزئبقية‬
Physiological unit of blood pressure is expressed in millimeters of mercury (mm
‫معدل النبض‬
Hg). Another example of pulse rate measures in (pulse per minute).

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 Wasit University /College of Dentistry Introduction and concept of Medical Physics
Dr. Amel D. Hussein

1-7 Prefixes
‫تقابل‬
Prefixes correspond to powers of 10. Each prefix has a specific name and has a
‫محدد‬ ‫إختصار‬
specific abbreviation. The prefixes can be used with any basic units.
‫مضاعفات‬
They are multipliers of the basic unit; examples:

1 mm = 10-3m

1 mg = 10-3g

1-8 Relation Between Some Topics of Physics and Medicine

Physics:
 Electricity and Magnetism
‫الجهد الكهربائي‬ ‫التيار الكهربائي‬ ‫الدوائر الكهربائية‬ ‫التغذية الراجعة‬
Electric potential, Electric current, Electric circuits, Electronics, Feedback,
‫التنظيم‬
Control, Regulation.
 Sound
‫الصوتيات‬
Sound waves, Acoustics, Ultrasound
 Light
‫موجات ضوئية‬
Light waves, Optics, Laser
 Radiation
‫االشعة السينية‬ ‫النشاط االشعاعي‬ ‫الفيزياء النووية‬
X-ray, Radioactivity and Nuclear Physics
 Medicine
 Electricity and Magnetism
‫العضالت املخ‬ ‫الصدمات الكهربائية‬
Heart, brain, muscle, electrical activity (ECG, EEG, EMG), electrical shock, and
‫الجهاز العصبي مستشعرات الوضع‬ ‫تنظيم التنفس‬
position sensors, nervous system, hormonal system, regulation of respiration, NMR
‫الرنني املغناطيسي النووي‬
(Nuclear Magnetic Resonance).
 Sound
‫حاسة السمع‬
The sense of hearing, Ear and Hearing aids, Ultrasonic imaging, Ultrasonic
‫الكلى‬ ‫املثانة‬
cleaning, Ultrasonic kidney, and Bladder operations.

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Wasit University /College of Dentistry Introduction and concept of Medical Physics
Dr. Amel D. Hussein

 Light
‫حاسة البصر‬ ‫تصحيح العني‬
The sense of vision, the eye and eyesight correction, Laser surgery, therapy
 Radiation
‫التصوير املقطعي املحوسب‬
X-ray, imaging computed tomography (ct) scanner, radiation therapy, diagnosis...
‫النمذجة‬
1-9 Modeling
Even though physicist believes that the physical world obeys the laws of physics,
they are also aware that the mathematical descriptions of some physical situation
are too complex to permit a solution.
Modeling example:
‫مماثلة‬
a) The eye is analogous to the camera.
b) The flow of blood is like the flow of electricity in an electric circuit, this
‫يحاكي‬ ‫القلب واالوعية الدموية‬
electrical model can simulate very well the phenomena of the cardiovascular
‫نظام‬
system.
c) Newton's second law: F=ma
or; F= Δmv/Δt
‫يشير‬
Δ indicates a small change in the quantity
P=mv, Δ/Δt
‫الزخم‬
Means the rate of change (of momentum) with time.
d) One of the physicist’s favorite words is a function,
W= f (H), weight W is a function of the height H.
e) R=f (P), the heart rate R is a function of the power (P) produced by the body.

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Wasit University /College of Dentistry Introduction and concept of Medical Physics
Dr. Amel D. Hussein
‫آلية ردود الفعل‬
1-10 Feedback Mechanism
‫توازن‬ ‫مشابه‬
Many functions of the body are controlled by homeostasis, which is analogous to
feedback in engineering.
‫تحكم مستقر‬
(-) the feedback produced stable control.
‫تحكم غير مستقر‬
(+) the feedback produced an unstable control.
‫درجة الحرارة‬
A simple example of (-) feedback is the control of house temperature by a
‫منظم حرارة‬
thermostat.
(-) Feedback control is common in the body
For example, one important function of the body is to control the level of calcium
‫يطلق‬
in the blood, if the level drops low, the body releases some calcium from the bone
‫لِزيادة‬
to increase the level in the blood.
If too much calcium is released the body lowers the level in the blood by removing
‫الكِلى‬
some via the kidneys.
‫مختلفة‬
Many of the control mechanisms of the body are not yet understood; various
‫ارتباط مباشر‬
diseases are directly related to the failure of these mechanisms.
‫يصل‬
For example, as the body grows, its cells keep increasing in number until it reaches
‫حجم البالغني‬ ‫يبقى‬
adult size, and then the body remains more or less constant in size under some type
of feedback control.
‫من حني آلِخر‬ ‫ال تستجيب‬ ‫أورام‬
Occasionally some cells are not responding to this control and become tumors.
(+) Feedback control is common in the body
‫تخثر الدم‬ ‫صفائح دموية تلف الوعاء الدموي‬ ‫االلتصاق‬
Blood clotting, once the vessel is damaged the platelets start to cling to the injured
‫تطلق‬ ‫تجذب‬ ‫تراكم‬
site and release chemicals that attract more platelets, the platelets continue to pile
‫جلطة‬
up until the clot is formed.
Medical Terminology: This is a system of words that are used to describe specific
medical aspects and diseases. It is based on standard root words, prefixes, and
suffixes.

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Wasit University /College of Dentistry Introduction and concept of Medical Physics
Dr. Amel D. Hussein

Modeling: Even though physicist believes that the physical world obeys the laws
‫يُدرِك‬
of physics, they are also aware that the mathematical descriptions of some physical
‫معقدة‬
situation are too complex to permit a solution.
‫إجراء‬ ‫تعيني الرموز‬ ‫األحرف‬
Measurement: This is a procedure for assigning symbols, letters, or numbers to
‫الخصائص التجريبية‬ ‫املتغيرات‬
empirical properties of variables according to rules.
‫ربط األرقام‬
So, the process of associating numbers with physical quantities and
‫أساسي‬
phenomena. Measurement is fundamental to the sciences; to engineering,
construction, and other technical fields; and almost all everyday activities.