Editing Medical physics (section)

==Areas of specialty==
The [[International Organization for Medical Physics]] (IOMP) recognizes main areas of medical physics employment and focus.<ref>{{cite web|title=Medical Physics|url=http://www.iomp.org/?q=node/76|website=International Organization for Medical Physics|access-date=21 October 2017|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://aapm.org/org/policies/details.asp?id=225&type=PP&current=true|title=AAPM Position Statements, Policies and Procedures - Details|website=aapm.org}}</ref>

===Medical imaging physics===
[[File:Parasagittal MRI of human head in patient with benign familial macrocephaly prior to brain injury (ANIMATED).gif|thumb|right|Para-sagittal MRI of the head in a patient with benign familial macrocephaly.]]

Medical imaging physics is also known as diagnostic and interventional radiology physics.
Clinical (both "in-house" and "consulting") physicists<ref>{{cite web|url=http://aapm.org/medical_physicist/default.asp|title=AAPM - What do Medical Physicists Do?|website=aapm.org}}</ref> typically deal with areas of testing, optimization, and quality assurance of [[diagnostic radiology]] physics areas such as radiographic [[X-ray]]s, [[fluoroscopy]], [[mammography]], [[angiography]], and [[computed tomography]], as well as [[non-ionizing radiation]] modalities such as [[ultrasound]], and [[Magnetic resonance imaging|MRI]]. They may also be engaged with radiation protection issues such as [[dosimetry]] (for staff and patients). In addition, many imaging physicists are often also involved with [[nuclear medicine]] systems, including [[SPECT|single photon emission computed tomography]] (SPECT) and [[positron emission tomography]] (PET).
Sometimes, imaging physicists may be engaged in clinical areas, but for research and teaching purposes,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.medphys.ca/content.php?sec=1 |title=COMP/OCPM - What is Medical Physics? |access-date=2013-11-13 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131113133937/http://www.medphys.ca/content.php?sec=1 |archive-date=2013-11-13 }}</ref> such as quantifying [[intravascular ultrasound]] as a possible method of imaging a particular vascular object.

=== Therapeutic medical physics===
Radiation therapeutic physics is also known as [[radiotherapy]] physics or [[radiation oncologist]] physics.
The majority of medical physicists currently working in the US, Canada, and some western countries are of this group. A radiation therapy physicist typically deals with [[Linear particle accelerator#Medical linacs|linear accelerator]] (Linac) systems and kilovoltage x-ray treatment units on a daily basis, as well as other modalities such as [[TomoTherapy]], [[gamma knife]], [[Cyberknife (device)|Cyberknife]], [[proton therapy]], and [[brachytherapy]].<ref>{{cite journal|title=Advances in kilovoltage x-ray beam dosimetry|journal=Physics in Medicine and Biology|volume=59|number=6|year=2014|vauthors=Hill R, Healy B, Holloway L, Kuncic Z, Thwaites D, Baldock C |doi=10.1088/0031-9155/59/6/R183|pmid=24584183|bibcode = 2014PMB....59R.183H|pages=R183–231|s2cid=18082594 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|title=Back to the future: the history and development of the clinical linear accelerator|vauthors=Thwaites DI, Tuohy JB |year=2006|volume=51|issue=13|pmid=16790912|doi=10.1088/0031-9155/51/13/R20|journal=Physics in Medicine and Biology|bibcode = 2006PMB....51R.343T|pages=R343–62|s2cid=7672187 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title=The history of tomotherapy|author=Mackie, T R |year=2006|journal= Physics in Medicine and Biology|volume=51|number=13|doi=10.1088/0031-9155/51/13/R24|bibcode = 2006PMB....51R.427M|pmid=16790916|pages=R427–53|s2cid=31523227 }}</ref>
The academic and research side of therapeutic physics may encompass fields such as [[boron neutron capture therapy]], [[sealed source radiotherapy]], [[terahertz radiation]], high-intensity focused [[ultrasound]] (including [[lithotriptor|lithotripsy]]), [[optical radiation]] [[laser]]s, [[ultraviolet]] etc. including [[photodynamic therapy]], as well as [[nuclear medicine]] including [[unsealed source radiotherapy]], and [[photomedicine]], which is the use of light to treat and diagnose disease.

===Nuclear medicine physics===
[[Nuclear medicine]] is a branch of medicine that uses radiation to provide information about the functioning of a person's specific organs or to treat disease. The [[thyroid]], [[bone]]s, [[heart]], [[liver]] and many other organs can be easily imaged, and disorders in their function revealed. In some cases radiation sources can be [[Unsealed source radiotherapy|used to treat]] diseased organs, or tumours. Five [[List of Nobel laureates|Nobel laureates]] have been intimately involved with the use of radioactive tracers in medicine.
Over 10,000 hospitals worldwide use [[radioisotope]]s in medicine, and about 90% of the procedures are for diagnosis.  The most common radioisotope used in diagnosis is [[technetium-99m]], with some 30 million procedures per year, accounting for 80% of all nuclear medicine procedures worldwide.<ref>{{cite web|title=Radioisotopes in Medicine|url=http://www.world-nuclear.org/information-library/non-power-nuclear-applications/radioisotopes-research/radioisotopes-in-medicine.aspx|website=World Nuclear Association|access-date=21 October 2017|date=October 2017}}</ref>

===Health physics===
Health physics is also known as radiation safety or [[radiation protection]]. Health physics is the applied physics of radiation protection for health and health care purposes. It is the science concerned with the recognition, evaluation, and control of health hazards to permit the safe use and application of ionizing radiation. Health physics professionals promote excellence in the science and practice of radiation protection and safety.
* [[Background radiation]]
* [[Radiation protection]]
* [[Dosimetry]]
* [[Health physics]]
* [[Radiation protection of patients|Radiological protection of patients]]

===Non-ionizing medical radiation physics===
Some aspects of non-ionizing radiation physics may be considered under radiation protection or diagnostic imaging physics. Imaging modalities include [[MRI]], [[optical imaging]] and [[ultrasound]]. Safety considerations include these areas and [[laser medicine|lasers]]
* [[Laser medicine|Lasers and applications in medicine]]

===Physiological measurement===
Physiological measurements have also been used to monitor and measure various physiological parameters. Many physiological measurement techniques are [[non-invasive]] and can be used in conjunction with, or as an alternative to, other [[Invasive (medical)|invasive]] methods. Measurement methods include [[electrocardiography]] Many of these areas may be covered by other specialities, for example [[medical engineering]] or vascular science.<ref>{{cite web|title=Vascular science|url=https://www.healthcareers.nhs.uk/explore-roles/healthcare-science/roles-healthcare-science/physiological-sciences/vascular-science|website=NHS Health Careers|access-date=21 October 2017|language=en|date=25 March 2015}}</ref>

===Healthcare informatics and computational physics===
Other closely related fields to medical physics include fields which deal with medical data, [[information technology]] and [[computer science]] for medicine.
* [[Health informatics|Information and communication in medicine]]
* [[Medical informatics]]
* [[Image processing]], display and visualization
* [[Computer-aided diagnosis]]
* [[Picture archiving and communication system]]s (PACS)
* Standards: [[DICOM]], [[ISO]], [[Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise|IHE]]
* [[Hospital information systems]]
* [[e-Health]]
* [[Telemedicine]]
* [[Digital operating room]]
* [[Workflow]], [[patient-specific modeling]]
* Medicine on the [[Internet of Things]] {{citation needed|date=February 2021}}
* [[Remote patient monitoring|Distant monitoring]] and [[telehomecare]]

===Areas of research and academic development===
[[File:ECG principle slow.gif|thumb|right|[[Electrocardiogram|ECG]] trace]]
Non-clinical physicists may or may not focus on the above areas from an academic and research point of view, but their scope of specialization may also encompass [[lasers]] and [[ultraviolet]] systems (such as [[photodynamic therapy]]), [[functional magnetic resonance imaging|fMRI]] and other methods for [[functional imaging]] as well as [[molecular imaging]], [[electrical impedance tomography]], [[diffuse optical imaging]], [[optical coherence tomography]], and [[dual energy X-ray absorptiometry]].