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This course is held on the UCSF campus.

Description:

• Linear system model of imaging, modulation transfer function, radiation therapy, noise properties, nuclear medicine, scintillation cameras, radionuclide tomographic reconstruction, positron emission tomography, kinetic systems, compartmental modeling, radiation treatment delivery systems, stereotactic radiosurgery, radiation treatment planning, hyperthermia and thermal therapy.
• Offered odd-numbered years. (Spring)

Course Prerequisites:

• NE107, undergraduate degree in physical science or engineering, or consent of instructor.

Prerequisite knowledge and/or skills:

• Basic knowledge of atomic and nuclear physics.
• Basic knowledge of interaction of radiation with matter.
• Basic knowledge of radiation detection and measurement.
• Differential equations and Fourier Transforms.

Textbook(s) and/or other required material:

• Will be announced in class.

Course objectives and outcomes:

• The course will provide students with a fundamental understanding of the physics and engineering principles that underlie the design and use of instrumentation and techniques used in x-ray imaging, computed tomography, ultrasound, nuclear medicine, positron emission tomography, radiation oncology, and thermal therapy. The course will emphasize methods of optimizing the design and evaluation of performance of instrumentation and techniques used for medical imaging and radiation therapy, and use of these systems for medical and research applications.

  Course Outcomes:

  Students must be able to:

• Understand the mechanisms of radiation interaction with human body.
• Have a working knowledge of the physics of X-ray imaging, image quality issues (noise, contrast, spatial resolution), tomographic image reconstruction/filtered backprojection, and X-ray computed tomography.
• Have a working knowledge of the physics of radionuclide imaging, scintigraphy, single-photon emission computed tomography, and positron emission tomography, image quality issues (noise, contrast, spatial resolution, collimation), and tomographic image reconstruction.
• Understand the basic principles of ultrasound imaging.
• Have a working knowledge of the physics of radiation oncology and thermal therapy, including treatment planning, radiation dose optimization, and conformal radiation therapy

Topics Covered:

• The physics of radionuclide imaging: introduction to nuclear medicine, design of the scintillation camera, collimators, spatial resolution, photon scatter, energy discrimination, single-photon emission computed tomography, positron emission tomography, compartmental analysis and kinetic modeling, radiation treatment methods, radiation dosimetry and measurement devices, radiation treatment planning and optimization, stereotactic radiosurgery, intensity modulated radiation therapy, treatment verification techniques, hyperthermia, thermal therapy, clinical considerations of radiation oncology.

Contribution of course to meeting the professional component:

• This course contributes primarily to the students' knowledge of engineering topics, and does not provide design experience.
• Students are required to work on homework sets that illustrate basic issues related to medical imaging.

Relationship of course to undergraduate degree program objectives:

• This course primarily serves graduate students in the Nuclear Engineering Department and Bioengineering Graduate Group. Graduate students from other programs may enroll in the course to gain breadth in the areas of medical imaging and radiation oncology.
• This course contributes to the NE program objectives by providing education in a fundamental area of physics of medical imaging and radiation oncology. It does not provide students with direct design experience, but includes substantial discussion and illustration of design issues.

Assessment of student progress toward course objectives:

• Homework problem sets: 25%
• Two midterm Exams 50%
• Final Exam: 25%