10 research outputs found
Recommended from our members
Mixed radiation field dosimetry utilizing Nuclear Quadrupole Resonance
This project has proposed to develop a novel dosimetry system that is capable of directly evaluating the chemical/biological damage caused by neutrons, photons, or both in a single measurement. The dosimeter itself will consist of a small volume of biological equivalent material that is probed for radiation damage with Nuclear Quadrupole Resonance (NQR) techniques. NQR has previously been utilized as a sensitive probe of structural and chemical changes at the molecular level for a variety of organic compounds. The biological equivalent materials used in this study will not only have a density similar to tissue (tissue equivalent) but will have the same atomic components as tissue. This is a significant requirement if the important neutron interactions that occur in tissue are to occur in the dosimeter as well. The overall objective of this study is to investigate a methodology to perform accurate mixed-field (neutron and photon) dosimetry for biological systems
Estimated size of the clinical medical imaging physics workforce in the United States
There is no current authoritative accounting of the number of clinical imaging physicists practicing in the United States. Information about the workforce is needed to inform future efforts to secure training pathways and opportunities. In this study, the AAPM Diagnostic Demand and Supply Projection Working Group collected lists of medical physicists from several state registration and licensure programs and the Conference of Radiation Control Program Directors (CRCPD) registry. By cross-referencing individuals among these lists, we were able to estimate the current imaging physics workforce in the United States by extrapolating based on population. The imaging physics workforce in the United States in 2019 consisted of approximately 1794 physicists supporting diagnostic X-ray (1073 board-certified) and 934 physicists supporting nuclear medicine (460 board-certified), with a number of individuals practicing in both subfields. There were an estimated 235 physicists supporting nuclear medicine exclusively (150 board-certified). The estimated total workforce, accounting for overlap, was 2029 medical physicists. These estimates are in approximate agreement with other published studies of segments of the workforce