Search result: Catalogue data in Autumn Semester 2016

MAS in Medical Physics Information
Specialization: General Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering
Major in Radiation Therapy
Core Courses
NumberTitleTypeECTSHoursLecturers
402-0345-00LIntroduction to Medical Physics
Does not take place this semester.
W4 credits2VA. J. Lomax
AbstractMedical physics is a fascinating and worthwhile scientific discipline, providing many professional opportunities to apply physics to the care of patients, either in the clinic or in industry. It is also an area allowing for exciting, interesting and fulfilling areas of research.
Learning objectiveIt is the aim of this course to give bachelor and master level students an insight into the wide spectrum of medical applications of physics, and to provide some insight into the work of the medical physicist in clinics, industry and research.
ContentThe lecture series will begin with a short historical overview of medical physics and an overview of the lecture series (lecture 1). This will be followed by two lectures on the physics of medical imaging. Medical imaging is one of the most important areas of preventative medicine and diagnostics, and in these two lectures, we will summarise the physics aspects of all the most important medical imaging modalities (X-ray, nuclear medicine, CT, MRI, Ultrasound imaging etc.). With lectures 4 and 5, we will move onto one of the other major areas of physics applied to medicine, radiotherapy. As the name implies, this is a physics 'heavy' discipline, being dependent as it is on both accelerator and particle physics. However, what is less well known is that this is also the second most successfu
l treatment of cancer after surgery and a great success story for the application of physics to medicine. In lectures 6 and 7 will then move on to a very different area, that of bio-photonics and bio-physics. Here we will look into the applications of lasers in medicine, from therapy to their use in particle acceleration for medical applications, as well as a variety of optical techniques for studying biological tissues, cells and structures.
In the second half of the lecture series (lectures 8-13) the style changes somewhat, and we will concentrate on professional aspects of medical physics and the role of the medical physicist in various professional scenarios. As such, lectures 8-11 will cover the role of the clinical medical physicist in diagnostic radiology, MRI, nuclear medicine and radiotherapy, whilst the last two lectures will concentrate on their role in industry and research. For many of this second set of lectures, external experts in the various areas will be invited in order to give the student the best possible insight into the life of a professional medical physicist.
402-0341-00LMedical Physics IW6 credits2V + 1UP. Manser
AbstractIntroduction to the fundamentals of medical radiation physics. Functional chain due to radiation exposure from the primary physical effect to the radiobiological and medically manifest secondary effects. Dosimetric concepts of radiation protection in medicine. Mode of action of radiation sources used in medicine and its illustration by means of Monte Carlo simulations.
Learning objectiveUnderstanding the functional chain from primary physical effects of ionizing radiation to clinical radiation effects. Dealing with dose as a quantitative measure of medical exposure. Getting familiar with methods to generate ionizing radiation in medicine and learn how they are applied for medical purposes. Eventually, the lecture aims to show the students that medical physics is a fascinating and evolving discipline where physics can directly be used for the benefits of patients and the society.
ContentThe lecture is covering the basic principles of ionzing radiation and its physical and biological effects. The physical interactions of photons as well as of charged particles will be reviewed and their consequences for medical applications will be discussed. The concept of Monte Carlo simulation will be introduced in the excercises and will help the student to understand the characteristics of ionizing radiation in simple and complex situations. Fundamentals in dosimetry will be provided in order to understand the physical and biological effects of ionizing radiation. Deterministic as well as stochastic effects will be discussed and fundamental knowledge about radiation protection will be provided. In the second part of the lecture series, we will cover the generation of ionizing radiation. By this means, the x-ray tube, the clinical linear accelarator, and different radioactive sources in radiology, radiotherapy and nuclear medicine will be addressed. Applications in radiolgoy, nuclear medicine and radiotherapy will be described with a special focus on the physics underlying these applications.
Lecture notesA script will be provided.
227-0943-00LRadiobiologyW2 credits2VM. Pruschy
AbstractThe purpose of this course is to impart basic knowledge in radiobiology in order to handle ionizing radiation and to provide a basis for predicting the radiation risk.
Learning objectiveBy the end of this course the participants will be able to:
a) interpret the 5 Rs of radiation oncology in the context of the hallmarks of cancer
b) understand factors which underpin the differing radiosensitivities of different tumors
c) follow rational strategies for combined treatment modalities of ionizing radiation with targeted agents
d) understand differences in the radiation response of normal tissue versus tumor tissue
e) understand different treatment responses of the tumor and the normal tissue to differential clinical-related parameters of radiotherapy (dose rate, LET etc.).
ContentEinführung in die Strahlenbiologie ionisierender Strahlen: Allgemeine Grundlagen und Begriffsbestimmungen; Mechanismen der biologischen Strahlenwirkung; Strahlenwirkung auf Zellen, Gewebe und Organe; Modifikation der biologischen Strahlenwirkung; Strahlenzytogenetik: Chromosomenveränderungen, DNA-Defekte, Reparaturprozesse; Molekulare Strahlenbiologie: Bedeutung inter- und intrazellulärer Signalübermittlungsprozesse, Apoptose, Zellzyklus-Checkpoints; Strahlenrisiko: Strahlensyndrome, Krebsinduktion, Mutationsauslösung, pränatale Strahlenwirkung; Strahlenbiologische Grundlagen des Strahlenschutzes; Nutzen-Risiko-Abwägungen bei der medizinischen Strahlenanwendung; Prädiktive strahlenbiologische Methoden zur Optimierung der therapeutischen Strahlenanwendung.
Lecture notesBeilagen mit zusammenfassenden Texten, Tabellen, Bild- und Grafikdarstellungen werden abgegeben
LiteratureLiteraturliste wird abgegeben.
Für NDS-Absolventen empfohlen: Hall EJ; Giacchia A: Radiobiology for the Radiologist, 7th Edition, 2011
Prerequisites / NoticeThe former number of this course unit is 465-0951-00L.
Practical Work
NumberTitleTypeECTSHoursLecturers
465-0956-00LDosimetry Restricted registration - show details
Does not take place this semester.
Only for MAS in Medical Physics
W4 credits6G
AbstractDosimetry in radiotherapy. Planning and implementation of a percutaneous radiation exposure on an anthropomorphic phantom. Verification of the resulting dose distribution.
Learning objectivePraktische Umsetzung der Lerninhalte der Vorlesungen Medizinphysik I & II bezüglich Dosimetrie bei perkutanen Strahlenexpositinen
ContentDosimetrie in der Strahlentherapie. Planung und Durchführung einer perkutanen Strahlenexposition an einem anthropomorphen Phantom. Überprüfung der resultierenden Dosisverteilungen.
Lecture notesDie Kursunterlagen werden im Blockkurs abgegeben.
Prerequisites / NoticeVoraussetzung: Besuch der Vorlesung Medizinische Physik I
465-0800-00LPractical Work Restricted registration - show details
Only for MAS in Medical Physics
W4 creditsexternal organisers
AbstractThe practical work is designed to train the students in the solution of a specific problem and provides insights in the field of the selected MAS specialization. Tutors propose the subject of the project, the project plan, and the roadmap together with the student, as well as monitor the overall execution.
Learning objectiveThe practical work is aimed at training the student’s capability to apply and connect specific skills acquired during the MAS specialization program towards the solution of a focused problem.
Electives
NumberTitleTypeECTSHoursLecturers
227-0965-00LMicro and Nano-Tomography of Biological TissuesW4 credits3GM. Stampanoni, P. A. Kaestner
AbstractThe lecture introduces the physical and technical know-how of X-ray tomographic microscopy. Several X-ray imaging techniques (absorption-, phase- and darkfield contrast) will be discussed and their use in daily research, in particular biology, is presented. The course discusses the aspects of quantitative evaluation of tomographic data sets like segmentation, morphometry and statistics.
Learning objectiveIntroduction to the basic concepts of X-ray tomographic imaging, image analysis and data quantification at the micro and nano scale with particular emphasis on biological applications
ContentSynchrotron-based X-ray micro- and nano-tomography is today a powerful technique for non-destructive, high-resolution investigations of a broad range of materials. The high-brilliance and high-coherence of third generation synchrotron radiation facilities allow quantitative, three-dimensional imaging at the micro and nanometer scale and extend the traditional absorption imaging technique to edge-enhanced and phase-sensitive measurements, which are particularly suited for investigating biological samples.

The lecture includes a general introduction to the principles of tomographic imaging from image formation to image reconstruction. It provides the physical and engineering basics to understand how imaging beamlines at synchrotron facilities work, looks into the recently developed phase contrast methods, and explores the first applications of X-ray nano-tomographic experiments.

The course finally provides the necessary background to understand the quantitative evaluation of tomographic data, from basic image analysis to complex morphometrical computations and 3D visualization, keeping the focus on biomedical applications.
Lecture notesAvailable online
LiteratureWill be indicated during the lecture.
402-0674-00LPhysics in Medical Research: From Atoms to Cells Information W6 credits2V + 1UB. K. R. Müller
AbstractScanning probe and diffraction techniques allow studying activated atomic processes during early stages of epitaxial growth. For quantitative description, rate equation analysis, mean-field nucleation and scaling theories are applied on systems ranging from simple metallic to complex organic materials. The knowledge is expanded to optical and electronic properties as well as to proteins and cells.
Learning objectiveThe lecture series is motivated by an overview covering the skin of the crystals, roughness analysis, contact angle measurements, protein absorption/activity and monocyte behaviour.

As the first step, real structures on clean surfaces including surface reconstructions and surface relaxations, defects in crystals are presented, before the preparation of clean metallic, semiconducting, oxidic and organic surfaces are introduced.

The atomic processes on surfaces are activated by the increase of the substrate temperature. They can be studied using scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The combination with molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) allows determining the sizes of the critical nuclei and the other activated processes in a hierarchical fashion. The evolution of the surface morphology is characterized by the density and size distribution of the nanostructures that could be quantified by means of the rate equation analysis, the mean-field nucleation theory, as well as the scaling theory. The surface morphology is further characterized by defects and nanostructure's shapes, which are based on the strain relieving mechanisms and kinetic growth processes.

High-resolution electron diffraction is complementary to scanning probe techniques and provides exact mean values. Some phenomena are quantitatively described by the kinematic theory and perfectly understood by means of the Ewald construction. Other phenomena need to be described by the more complex dynamical theory. Electron diffraction is not only associated with elastic scattering but also inelastic excitation mechanisms that reflect the electronic structure of the surfaces studied. Low-energy electrons lead to phonon and high-energy electrons to plasmon excitations. Both effects are perfectly described by dipole and impact scattering.

Thin-films of rather complex organic materials are often quantitatively characterized by photons with a broad range of wavelengths from ultra-violet to infra-red light. Asymmetries and preferential orientations of the (anisotropic) molecules are verified using the optical dichroism and second harmonic generation measurements. These characterization techniques are vital for optimizing the preparation of medical implants and the determination of tissue's anisotropies within the human body.

Cell-surface interactions are related to the cell adhesion and the contractile cellular forces. Physical means have been developed to quantify these interactions. Other physical techniques are introduced in cell biology, namely to count and sort cells, to study cell proliferation and metabolism and to determine the relation between cell morphology and function.

3D scaffolds are important for tissue augmentation and engineering. Design, preparation methods, and characterization of these highly porous 3D microstructures are also presented.

Visiting clinical research in a leading university hospital will show the usefulness of the lecture series.
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