A 2009 survey of the Australasian clinical medical physics and biomedical engineering workforce

A survey of the Australasian clinical medical physics and biomedical engineering workforce was carried out in 2009 following on from a similar survey in 2006. 621 positions (equivalent to 575 equivalent full time (EFT) positions) were captured by the survey. Of these 330 EFT were in radiation oncology physics, 45 EFT were in radiology physics, 42 EFT were in nuclear medicine physics, 159 EFT were in biomedical engineering and 29 EFT were attributed to other activities. The survey reviewed the experience profile, the salary levels and the number of vacant positions in the workforce for the different disciplines in each Australian state and in New Zealand. Analysis of the data shows the changes to the workforce over the preceding 3 years and identifies shortfalls in the workforce

A survey of the Australasian clinical medical physics and biomedical engineering workforce

A survey of the medical physics and biomedical engineering workforce was carried out in 2006. 495 positions(equivalent to 478 equivalent full time (EFT) positions) were captured by the survey. Of these 268 EFT were in radiation oncology physics, 36 EFT were in radiology physics, 44 were in nuclear medicine physics, 101 EFT were in biomedical engineering and 29 EFT were attributed to other activities. The survey reviewed the experience profile, the salary levels and the number of vacant positions in the workforce for the different disciplines in each Australian state and in New Zealand. Analysis of the data identifies staffing shortfalls in the various disciplines and demonstrates the difficulties that will occur in trying to train sufficient physicists to raise staffing to an acceptable level

Studies of the coefficient of variation of the magnitude of EEG signals

An analysis of the variation in magnitude of EEG signals in various frequency bands of anesthetized patients and normal sleeping volunteers was carried out. The coefficient of variation (CoV), i.e. the standard deviation/mean, within 10 second epochs was found to be quite constant throughout the whole of the EEG recordings and was typically about 0.46. This was found to be the case for both the patients and the volunteers. Histograms of the magnitudes indicated that the magnitudes are distributed as f(x)=βxe(-αx2) functions. However a CoV of 0.46 is consistent with f(x)=βxe(-αx3) functions. The non-stationary nature of the EEG is such that it is likely that while over short periods the EEG magnitudes are distributed as f(x)=βxe(-αx3) functions, variations of α over time mean that in the long term the EEG magnitudes are distributed as f(x)=βxe(-αx2) functions

Career Progression in Medical Physics

In several western countries there is a formal medical physicists’ training scheme after which a lot of graduates are employed in government hospitals where there is a formal, national salary scale and levels of responsibility through which physicists can expect to move. Those who are employed in private institutions are usually employed on contacts that are somewhat similar to those in the government institutions, but with perhaps a higher salary level but with an expectation that they will have a higher output. This is often not the case in AFOMP countries, especially in developing countries where there may be very few medical physicists. There may not be a “recognised” path that a clinical medical physicist would expect to follow from being a trainee/registrar/resident to a chief physicist in charge of the physics in an imaging or radiation oncology or medical physics department. There is often no official salary scale, limited access to continuing professional development, and little concept of how their careers might be expected to progress, especially amongst administrators. Those countries that do define a career path for medical physicists usually do so through a nation- or state-wide employment contract (or award) negotiated between the profession and the government. These can be used as a model for career planning elsewhere. A survey done of the career pathways in other countries showed that where awards exist, often they are constructed as a multilevel system consisting of, for example, four levels: physicist, senior physicist, principal physicist and chief physicist. Minimum education qualifications and experience are often needed to enter each level, along with a compilation of achievements and an expectation that the physicist will be able to fulfil the requirements of the level. If possible, such systems should be set up in all AFOMP countries where this is possible so that medical physicists will be able to see where their career will lead and how far they have progressed. Sometimes this can be difficult to set up because being a medical physicist is not a government-recognised profession in some countries, even though it is recognised by the International Labour Organization. To ensure that physicists’ careers will develop in a way that will fully develop their potential, it is important that issues such as have proper education and training, sufficient access to continuing professional development, interaction with physicists within and outside their own institution. Also, for those who temporarily leave the profession, a pathway for them to re-enter must be available. Career progression is something that all AFOMP National Member Organizations must address if the potential of their members is to be properly developed and their skills to be fully utilized

Continuing professional development systems for medical physicists

A survey of all the continuing professional development (CPD) systems used internationally was conducted in 2011 as a precursor to developing a policy on CPD by the Asia-Oceania Federation of Organizations for Medical Physics. The results of the survey are presented in this paper. CPD of medical physicists throughout their careers is fundamental to ensure that they are up to date with current practices to ensure that they can perform their duties with competence and professionalism. The medical physicist professional societies support the concept, but only a fraction of them have adopted formal systems to ensure that clinical physicists keep their CPD up to date. In a few cases, licences to practice are only renewed if physicists can demonstrate that they have undertaken sufficient CPD. In the majority of cases CPD systems are points-based where physicists are awarded a number of points for each activity they participate in. There is a requirement that they accumulate a number of points for various activities over a set number of years. In other systems where there is an emphasis on quality of CPD rather than quantity, physicists just keep a record of their activities which are audited periodically. It is difficult to achieve a ‘perfect’ system that balances the amount and quality of CPD undertaken by an individual. However, guidelines to how to assess CPD can be developed

The History of Medical Physics in New Zealand

This paper describes the history of medical physics in New Zealan

The (Pre-) History of Medical Physics

This paper describes the history of medical physics

Speed control with low armature loss for very small sensorless brushed DC motors

A method for speed control of brushed dc motors is presented. It is particularly applicable to motors with armatures of less than 1 cm3. Motors with very small armatures are difficult to control using the usual pulsewidth-modulation (PWM) approach and are apt to overheat if so driven. The technique regulates speed via the back electromotive force but does not require current-discontinuous drives. Armature heating in small motors under PWM drive is explained and quantified. The method is verified through simulation and measurement. Control is improved, and armature losses are minimized. The method can expect to find application in miniature mechatronic equipment

Cricket bowling: A two-segment Lagrangian model

In this study, a Lagrangian forward solution of the bowling arm in cricket is made using a two-segment rigid body model, coupled with projectile equations for the free flight of the ball. For given initial arm positions and constant joint torques, the equations are solved numerically to determine the ball speed and arm angle at release so that the ball can land on a predetermined position on the pitch. The model was driven with kinematic data from video obtained from an elite bowler. The model can be analysed in order to study the biomechanics of the bowling arm as well as to quantify the effects of changing input parameters on the trajectory and speed of the ball

A Monte Carlo study of two Compton camera’s first plane detectors

Purpose: The suitability of two possible detectors, silicon and germanium as the Compton camera’s first plane detector has been investigated using a robust Monte Carlo approach. Methods: The GEANT4 simulation software was used to simulate the radiation transport and interactions with matter. Investigations were first done by relating the impact of Doppler broadening on the Compton camera angular uncertainty, energy spectra and reconstructed source image. Then, the impact of geometry and interaction type on the Compton camera performance was evaluated as well. Results: Analyses suggest that silicon of about 1 cm thickness would be suitable as the Compton camera first plane detector. The choice of silicon is however not completely flawless, Doppler broadening for this detector material contributes as much as 7.3 mm and 2.4 mm to full-width-half-maximum image resolution at 140.5 keV and 511 keV respectively. Conclusions: It is envisioned that with improved reconstruction technique, silicon would be the best first plane detector for the Compton camera