Medical Physics

The UC Department of Radiology has an active academic diagnostic medical physics program. The medical physics section supports UC radiology’s clinical, educational, and research programs and the implementation of cutting-edge imaging methods at the associated imaging facilities.

Medical physics faculty members are board certified, and have had sub-specialty imaging physics training.

Research

As part of a thriving academic medical department, our medical physics faculty maintain a robust research program. Current research areas include pediatric computed tomography (CT) dosimetry, prostate magnetic resonance (MR) spectroscopy and small animal imaging studies.

Cross-departmental collaboration is a focus of the department and the Academic Health Center. Current multidisciplinary research projects include studies in chronic back pain, osteoporosis, neuroblastoma treatment, T2 cartilage mapping and stroke.

The UC Radiology 3T MRI provides the department with a scanner for clinical and basic science research. Its features and capabilities were chosen to facilitate translational research and clinical trials using new MRI techniques. Additional MRI research is conducted in collaboration with the adjacent Center for Imaging Research at the College of Medicine using a 4T system.

A state-of-the-art multi-modality small animal imaging research core was launched in 2009, facilitating greater integrated pre-clinical research and encouraging collaboration across department lines through shared imaging resources and expertise. The core, housed in the Vontz Center, boasts a new microPET/CT/SPECT scanner.

Education

Faculty are integral to UC’s master’s degree program in medical physics—which is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Medical Physics Education Programs (CAMPEP)—teaching diagnostic imaging physics and supervising clinical rotations in hospital-based health physics and diagnostic physics.

Physics faculty members provide physics instruction for radiology residents, give guest lectures and continuing medical education presentations, and participate in major national and international radiological society meetings with research presentations as committee chairs and members, and as invited lecturers.