Advances in Medical Physics: 2008
Author: Anthony B. Wolbarst, Kenneth L. Mossman, and William R. HendeeISBN: 9781930524385
Published: 2008 | 368 pp. | Hardcover
Price: $ 44.95 was 94.00
Medical Physics, Vol. 36, No. 4 | April 2009
Description
Advances in Medical Physics: 2008 is a useful and informative textbook that explores numerous topics pertinent to the field and is both well written and practically focused.
Purpose
The purpose of this book is to provide up-to-date scientific/technical background and overview information on the principal areas of medical imaging and therapy physics. This is a worthy endeavor of value to the medical physics community. The authors have met their objective.
Audience
This book is written for a broad audience of medical physicists ranging from students and residents to senior practitioners. The editors are well-recognized authorities in the field of medical physics and respected teachers and educators.
Content/Feature
Most tomes sporting the title "Advances in..." are little more than compilations of either conference proceedings or already published and sometimes slightly reworked papers on a given subject. Thankfully, this is not the case with Advances in Medical Physics: 2008, the second volume in the biennial Advances in Medical Physics series. Instead, it is a welcome offering in the form of a useful and informative textbook that is both well written and practically focused.
The text opens with a chapter on Digital Radiography, Mammography, and Fluoroscopy followed by a review of Image Display Systems in Chap. 2. Combined, these two chapters introduce the reader to a number of key issues in digital imaging and provide a useful and timely overview as analog imaging takes its long ride into the sunset. Chapter 3 delivers a concise introduction to projection-based image reconstruction with an emphasis on the algorithms most common to CT, PET, and SPECT. Quality control (QC) for CT is the focus of Chap. 4. While international guidelines are briefly mentioned, this section is biased toward the U.S. regulatory environment. This emphasis is a simple reflection of the book's authorship with only 2 out of a total of 30 contributing authors residing at centers beyond the borders of the United States. This section is followed by a chapter devoted to CT radiation dose and provides a well-balanced presentation of both the importance of this issue and the numerous difficulties involved in its accurate quantification. The ever-growing prominence of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) warrants coverage of this modality and is provided by Chaps. 6 and 7 that are devoted to reviewing key aspects of both its development and basic underlying physics. Chapter 8 provides a fascinating introduction to quantum dots that should not be overlooked. While this topic might at first seem out of place, the application of quantum dots in oncology is an area of current intense research, and papers exploring their utility in radiotherapy are appearing in the literature with increasing frequency. While the imaging focus of most medical physicists tends to extend from basic acquisition to final presentation, their interpretation can often be overlooked. This subject is introduced in Chaps. 9 and 10. Chapter 9 explores the topic of radiologist training and statistical learning algorithms while Chap. 10 delves into computer aided detection and diagnosis. Chapter 11 provides a brief but well-balanced introduction to the important and controversial topic of the health risks associated with low radiation doses.
Imaging is important to virtually every aspect of modern radiation therapy and is concisely reviewed in Chap. 12 with particular emphasis given to the current hot topic of image guidance. Depending on one's viewpoint, stereotactic radiosurgery is either a subset or an extension of IMRT. This topic is explored next in Chap. 13. Given the myriad of possible dose distributions that might be generated as possible treatment plans, the question of plan optimization naturally occurs. This rather vexing subject is tackled with regard to external beam treatments in Chap. 14. Chapter 15 on therapy vaults shielding design is a most welcome addition to this edition. The first half of this chapter succinctly covers the essential details that a physicist requires in order to begin such an endeavor. The didactic portion of this chapter is followed by a well-worked practical example. Combined, these two halves form a cohesive whole with sufficient detail to allow even the novice to immediately begin designing the shielding required for a therapy vault. As with all other topics covered in this book, this chapter on shielding must be viewed as a starting point. A thorough review of the literature and the guidance of a more senior individual who has already trod the shielding path must form the wise concomitant course of action. A brief discussion of the regulatory environment currently existing in the United States is the subject of Chap. 16. Written by a commissioner of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, this offering highlights the elevated emphasis on security of radiation producing sources that has developed in the post-9/11 environment and directly impacts medical physicists practicing in the United States. Chapter 17 examines aspects of statistical modeling and is the most lengthy section in the book at over 40 pages. While well written, this offering may prove a difficult read for those not well versed in mathematical statistics. This book finishes with a chapter (18) devoted to the U.S. NIH granting agency. This chapter may be divided into two sections. The first provides an excellent introduction to the NIH in general and the NIBIB in particular and provides the reader with many pertinent details essential to understanding this organization and their granting process. Included is a very useful compilation of the myriad associated acronyms an applicant will invariably encounter. The second section focuses on the crafting of a grant application and, while specific to the NIH, the insights gleaned will prove valuable with regard to other funding agencies as well.
Assessment/Comparison
Overall, this book is both well written and well referenced and will prove valuable to both novice and seasoned medical physicists alike. I can heartily recommend this as an excellent introductory text for those just entering the field as well as a good reference volume for well-established medical physicists.
Donald Robinson, Ph.D.
Senior Medical Physicist
Cross Cancer Institute