Advances in Medical Physics 2006

Abstract

Medical Physics Publishing, founded in 1985 by John Cameron, became the official distributor of books and reports for the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) in 1999. It has obvious links to the University of Wisconsin where Bill Hendee has recently retired as Dean of the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences to devote more time to editing and publishing. This book is a good example of the output of this group and also satisfies one of their stated aims, which is to publish affordable books in medical physics and related fields. They have a considerable and valuable portfolio of text books in radiotherapy and health physics and this new text book promises to be the first of a series concentrating on new advances in the field of medical physics in general. It should certainly generate a biennial series of books over the next few years which will be of considerable value to the field. But, and why is there always a but, the first volume is somewhat misnamed as it is really of value as background reading and serves as a good background textbook or primer rather than introducing many of the current and exciting new developments in the field, aimed more at the generalist rather than the specialist as the authors state themselves. The book is also rather US oriented; there are 27 contributing authors but only one author to my knowledge not being entirely US based.The subjects covered in this text are (in summary): digital radiology, mammography, CT, nuclear medicine, MRI, ultrasound, molecular imaging, healthcare informatics, biological effects of low doses of ionizing radiation, radiotherapy, magnetic nerve stimulation and one chapter called `Evolving and Experimental Technologies in Medical Imaging'. The subject matter in each case is covered reasonably well but rather briefly, and is mostly state of the art up to about two years ago which is to be expected given the time delay in preparing such a publication. Most of the chapters do include a good and helpful section of quality assurance, of value to the practicing hospital physicist.The new material is mostly covered in chapter 9 (`Evolving and Experimental Technologies in Medical Imaging') and includes some material about terahertz imaging, optical coherence tomography, near infra red imaging, electrical impedance tomography, microwave imaging, magneto encephalography, etc, but for example the whole section about the use of light amounts to less than one page in total. But there are so many new developments which are not as yet covered that it is rather unfair to start listing them. One major omission in my opinion is the lack of coverage of image guided methods (for example image guided radiotherapy, robot assisted surgery, advances in instrumentation in keyhole surgery). But I am sure these omissions will be rectified in the future. There are many topics which might be classed as more in the area of bioengineering such as: implanted devices, aids for the handicapped, biomaterials, the use of lasers in surgery, etc, which are not covered at all, making the material covered in this book very main stream 'conventional' medical physics. The chapters on the use of ionizing radiation are well written and the chapter on low dose models is interesting and very well written.While a little disappointed by the coverage and depth of coverage given the title of the book, I have no hesitation in strongly recommending the present text as very useful background reading for students at the Master's level or those working in the field developing their career in the subject area. I also have little doubt that in the future as volumes are added it will become an important and valuable resource.