home » teachers » VCE resources » Units 1 & 2 Resources » Materials
Innovative Physics: Medical Physics
Innovative Physics: Connecting Physics to Industry
This is material from the CDROM produced by the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA) in partnership the Department of Innovation, Industry and Regional Development (DIIRD).
The authors were Craig Tilley and Melanie Lane. The support of the following is acknowledged: Don Swinbourne, CEO, Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Radiologists; Dr Tony Speer, gastroenterologist, The Royal Melbourne Hospital; Jim Hagekyriakou, senior physicist, Peter MacCallum Institute; Dr Michelle Livett, physicist, University of Melbourne and Dr Gary Egan, Howard Florey Institute.
Careers, Class Activities, Useful Websites
Careers
Type | Filename | Filesize | |
 |
51.2 kB | ||
|
356 kB | ||
|
25.6 kB | ||
|
25.1 kB | ||
|
23.6 kB | ||
|
21.5 kB | ||
Class Activities
Type | Filename | Filesize |
No documents found.
Useful Websites
General Resources - Radioisotopes - Photonics - Ultrasound - X-rays and CT - Nuclear Imaging - MRI - Careers
General Resources
The University of Sydney - Great 'Medical Physics' page
This webpage by the University of Sydney contains many links for websites relevant to most aspects of the Medical Physics outcome. There is a combination of informative websites, applets and experiments.
Royal Adelaide Hopsital
This is the homepage for the Royal Adelaide Hopsital. There is information here about the hospital and the revelant departments. Under the Information for Patients link there is useful information about treatments offered by the hosptial and how they work. Of particular interest may be the pages for Bone Densitometry and Cancer.
Open Directory Project - Medical Physics
The Open Directory Project is a large human edited directory of the internet. This page contains is the entry for medical physics.
The Australasian College of Physical Scientists and Engineers in Medicine
Hosted by the Australasian College of Physical Scientists and Engineers in Medicine this page contains information about possible career paths for students who would enjoy the medical physics unit.
Nobelprize.org - The official Website of the Nobel Prize
The official website of the Nobel Prize contains information about both the purpose of the prize and the winners of every nobel prize since the introduction of the prize in 1901. The website is easy to use and will be accessable to students across most year levels. Of particular interest may be the information about specific winners in the medical physics area and the web games avaliable to demonstrate how the acchievements of these prize winners work.
Aunt Minnie - Radiology Website
Aunt Minnie is a website devoted to radiology. It is up-to-date with the latest news about radiology. Alot of the website is for access to members only, but membership is free. The latest news is accessable without membership.
Radiological Society of North America
This is the homepage for the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA). There is access to many full articles from the past year published by the RSNA News under the Publication tab.
RadioGraphics - The Journal of Continuing Medical Education in Radiology
This is the homepage for RadioGraphic (published by RSNA). There are many article avaliable with great graphics and photos. If you search around there are also some videos that can be accessed.
Radioisotopes
Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation
This is the homepage for the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) located in Sydney. The Nuclear Information tab contains useful information about Nuclear Science, what ANSO does, and how waste is managed. Many of these also contain links to printable PDFs. There are some useful videos and images found under the Discovering ANSTO tab about ANSTO and the science of nuclear imaging.
Nuclear Chemistry and the Community - ChemCases
ChemCases is a website devoted to creating links between the chemistry studied in the senior school years and the real life implications of the technology. This chemcase looks at nuclear chemistry. It compliments the text with equations and cartoons.
Radioisotopes in Medicine
The World Nuclear Association webpage contains details about the use of radiation in nuclear medicine. It was formally located on the Uranium Information Centre (Australia). The public information service tab contains details about the creation of nuclear isotopes, nuclear energy and countries that have access to nuclear technology.
New Scientist Magazine
This is the webpage for New Scientist magazine. There is an archive of past magazines with an electronic search function which allows students to search for topics on any topic. The archive is free but you need to apply to get a username and password.
Photonics
Imaging Health Specialist
Imaginis is a professional imaging health specalist. Under the procedures tab there is detailed discussions about various nuclear imaging avaliable at the clinic. There is information about how each one works and what a person would expect when undergoing the treatment/imaging. The MRI section is particularly detailed and worth a look.
Jackson Siegelbaum Gastroenterology
This is the webpage for Jackson Siegelbaum Gastroenterology. At the bottom the homepage there are links to the different endoscopy procedures offered at the practice. Some of the procedures have images as well as a general description of the procedure. Please be warned they may be uncomfortable viewing for some students as they are real images of medical conditions.
A Short History of Fibre Optics
This webpage by Jeff Hecht is as the name suggests a short history of fibre optics. There is also a chronology of the development.
The Birth of Fibre Optics
This About.com webpage looks at the history of the fibre optics. It is a very brief.
Fibre Optics - Eastern Illinois University
These very brief notes on fibre optics from Eastern Illinois University include photographs of an endoscope and some images taken with one. Using the links at the bottom notes for more topics suitable for Year 11 Physics can be accessed.
Photon Technology International
Photon Technology International designs and markets electro-optical instruments. Information about the different products that they market can be found under the products tab. Of interest may also be the application tab which details what type of analysis each instrument can perform inside a laboratory.
Ultrasound
Medical Procedures - Better Health Channel
The Better Health Channel is funded by the Victorian State Government to provide up-to-date, easily accessable health and medical information. The medical procedures page explains what medical prodecures are and why they may be used. At the bottom of the page are links to information about specific medical procedures; such as ultrasounds, PET scans and endoscopy.
Ultrasound: How Does it Work?
This Gizmo by Explore Learning allows students to learn about the real-life application of ultrasounds. Through the virtual machine students can perform a mock ultrasound on a patient to get a clear understanding of how the images are produced. This website is a subscription based site. They do have 30 day free trials and 5 minute free passes.
How Ultrasound Works
A detailed explination of how ultrasound works. There are some nice accompaning photos and ultrasound pictures. It is written with simple language so should be accessable for Year 11 students.
The History of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology
This account of the history of ultrasound in obstetrics and gynecology by Dr. Joseph Woo links the development of ultrasound technology right back to the development of SONAR and RADAR technologies. It is not really a short account but worth a read to understand how the development of the technology came about.
Obstetric Ultrasound
This webpage looks at the role ultrasound plays during pregnancy. Of interest may be the photos and movies of a 3D ultrasound of a fetus.
X-rays and CT
X-ray Imaging - Gismo
This Gizmo by Explore Learning allows students to learn about how x-ray imaging works. The virtual machine allows students to take x-ray images from two sides of a patient. This website is a subscription based site. They do have 30 day free trials and 5 minute free passes.
Radiology Info
RadiologyInfo contains information about a whole range of radiology procedures and tests. The test/treatment tab is an easy way to sort through the information. Each procedure is accompanied by photos and images of the machinary used and of patients. Of particular interest may be the vidoes located under the images tab.
Physics 2000 - X-rays
Physics 2000 is a student friendly website explaining various physics principals through a question and answer style conversation. Each explaination is accompanied by a picture or applet. A basic understanding of atomic shells is needed for the x-ray section.
X-ray - Infoplease.com
Infoplease.com is a free online encyclopedia. This entry explains briefly what x-rays are and how they were discovered.
Nuclear Imaging
Physics Saves Lives (pdf from American Institute of Physics)
This pdf produced by the American Institute of Physics has some great graphics for various radiology procedures (PET, mammogram, x-ray, MRI, ultrasound, CAT scan, and molecular imaging). There is also a nice timeline of the development of medical imaging.
Center for Positron Emission Tomography Research
This website from the Center for Positron Emission Tomography Research explains how Positron Emission Tomography (PET) works. There are no pictures but the information is easy to follow and should be accessable to most Year 11 students.
Nuclear Medicine and Positron Emission Tomography - The Austin Hospital
This website covers the Nuclear Medicine and Positron Emission Tomography at the Austin Hospital. It contains alot of detail about PET and nuclear medicine. You do need to use the links at the bottom to access most of the information after choosing your intial starting point from the home screen.
Positron Emission Tomography – Computed Tomography (PET/CT)
This is the Positron Emission Tomography – Computed Tomography (PET/CT) page from RadiologyInfo.com. It explains how PET works, why it is used, and the benefits vs. risksof the procedures. There is also a short video from a radiologist explaining how PET works.
MRI
How MRI works
A detailed explination of how MRI works. There is a nice image gallery accessable from the frst page. There is also a quiz that students can use to check their understanding of MRI. The language should be simple enough to be accessable for Year 11 students.
How strong are the magnets in an MRI machine?
A detailed explination of how strong the MRI magnets are. The second page has some useful links to images and teaching modules.
Article - The picture becomes clear for magnetic resonance imaging
This article published by NOVA explains how MRI works and why they are used. The side tabs allow students to look up key terms in the glossary, and access activities or further readings to extend themselves.
MRI Scan Overview
This article explans how MRI works. Using the drop down tab (show more articles) you can access articles about specific MRI scans.
MRI Animation
This short (1min 31s) animation explains how an MRI is different to scan like x-rays. They have also included a video transcript. There are other useful videos and animations located under the resource tab (includes x-rays).
The development of MRI
This indepth article by Beyond Discovery explains how MRI was developed. Of particular interest may be the timeline (accessed via the timeline button at the top of the article), which provides a simple overview of the development of MRI. The glossary provides simple definations of the key terms.
The Visible Human - MRI images
The Visible Human Project was created to collate cross-sectional photographs of both the male and female body. The linked page contains some nice visuals with MRI images provided for a male head, thorax, abdomen, pelvis, thighs and feet.
Frozen anatomic sections and MRI (magnetic ressonance image) sections from Visible Human
The linked webpage contains images from the Visable Human Project. It shows the difference between photos of the frozen cross-sectional samples and MRI images. A great illustration to show you can see different things when viewing the same item wth different imaging techniques.
Careers
Job Guide
The Job Guide allows students to look at a range of occupations and investigate the possible pathways to the occupation. There are also useful contacts for each occupation so students can learn more detailed information about each option. This may help students who would like to look at where Physics can lead them.
OZJAC - The Australian Courses and Careers Database
OZJAC is a subscription service provides information about courses, providers, jobs and general information about working.
Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Board
The Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Board (formally Medical Practitioners Board of Victoria before merger) provides information for students about approved courses in each area of medicial study.
Royal Australian College of General Practitioners
The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners represents urban and rural general practitioners working in or towards a career in general practice. Students can find information about what a career in general practice involves and which pathways will lead to this occupation.
Australian Medical Council
The Australian Medical Council provides accrediation to course in the field of health.
Australian Institute of Radiography (Federal Office)
The Australian Institute of Radiography represents careers in Diagnostic Radiography/Medical Imaging, Radiation Therapy and Ultrasound. Students can find out more information about these careers under the careers tab at the top of the page. This information is very easy to access and answers common questions students may have about each career.
Medical Radiation Practitioners Board (MRPB) of Victoria
The MRPB provides registation for radiation based medicial careers, and approves courses of study for registration.
Allied Health Professions Australia
The Allied Health Professions Australia is the national peak body for health professionals and their representative bodies apart from medicial practitioners, nurses and unions.
Australian and New Zealand Society of Nuclear Medicine
This is the home page of the Australian and New Zealand Society of Nuclear Medicine This society is for physicians, physicists, chemists, radiopharmacists, technologists, nurses and others interested in the practice of Nuclear Medicine in Australia and New Zealand.