Hospital Physicists Research Articles

Correspondence

Suggestions that the Hospital Physicists' Association should change its name arise from a recognition that the place of physics in medical work is now expanding rapidly. Professor Russ, a founder member of the Association, puts a point of view shared by many other members.

The Hospital Physicists' Association Diagrams and Data Scheme Calculated Isodose Curves

The Hospital Physicists' Association Diagrams and Data Scheme Calculated Isodose CurvesPublished Online:28 Jan 2014https://doi.org/10.1259/0007-1285-30-350-111SectionsPDF/EPUB ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack Citations ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InEmail AboutAbstractThe Hospital Physicists' Association is publishing through its Diagrams and Data Scheme, sets of X-ray isodose curves based on the depth dose data given in The British Journal of Radiology, Supplement No. 5. It is intended to publish the charts for closed ended applicators at 50 cm F.S.D. and for qualities of radiation of 1·0, 1·5, 2·0 and 3·0 mm Cu H.V.L., although, if there is a reasonable demand for other conditions, this range will be extended. Thirty-nine separate charts for 2 mm Cu H.V.L. are already available and are listed in the Diagrams and Data Scheme, Catalogue D (Supplement 1).In calculating the curves, central axis depth dose data (Clarkson, 1953) were analysed into primary and secondary radiation components by the use of recently published back-scatter factors (Greening, 1954). The distributions of scattered radiation along radial axes parallel to the surface were then determined for depths 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 10, 15 and 20 cm with an optical integrator (Wheatley, 1951). The sensitivity of the integrator was adjusted at each depth so that the central axis scattered radiation intensity was always read as 100. Its magnitude at other points was then recorded as a percentage of the central axis value. Several advantages arise from this method of operation. In the first place, the values obtained are only slightly dependent on depth and hardly at all on H.V.L. so that self-consistency can easily be checked. Previous article Next article FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Volume 30, Issue 350February 1957Pages: 57-112 © The British Institute of Radiology History Published onlineJanuary 28,2014 Metrics Download PDF

Calculation of tissue doses and data for the production of isodose charts, using standard depth-dose tables.

For satisfactory dosage planning in radiotherapy, isodose charts are essential. Data for such charts can be obtained by measurements in unit-density phantoms, using suitable small ionization chambers, but this is a tedious procedure, with many possibilities for error. Many departments, therefore, prefer to use charts available through data exchange schemes such as the one operated by the British Hospital Physicists' Association, or by one or two groups in the United States. This is not entirely satisfactory, since it is seldom possible to obtain curves for all field shapes and radiation qualities desired, and adaptation is rather hazardous. On the other hand, the calculation of such data from available central-axis depth-dose tables is practicable, and several methods have been developed for the procedure (1, 4, 6-10). None of these has been widely employed in the United States, either because of lack of familiarity with them, or because the work involved seemed too great. The basis for the calculation is...

Summarized proceedings of a meeting on radiation protection - London, January 1953

A joint meeting of the Industrial Radiology Group of The Institute of Physics and the Hospital Physicists' Association was held at The Royal Institution, London, on 16 and 17 January, 1953. The papers presented and the discussion on them are summarized; they were concerned with radiation protection, medical and industrial aspects of the subject and methods of personnel monitoring.

Radiation monitoring in the hospitals of Great Britain.

The data presented in this paper are based on replies to a questionnaire which was sent by the Scientific Sub-committee of the Hospital Physicists' Association to the heads of hospitals and medical school physics departments with the intention of assessing the scope of existing radiation protection services and the usefulness of the records to those bodies which from time to time suggest maximum allowable exposures. Information was also obtained from the National Physical Laboratory Radiation Protection Service. This survey, therefore, covers the majority of persons liable to be exposed to radiations in the course of their duties in hospitals or medical schools. It includes the M.R.C. Radiotherapeutic Research Unit but excludes members of other University or Government Departments such as Atomic Energy Establishments. Two main types of protection service are employed. The first applies mainly to radiotherapy departments where the dose-rate of stray radiation is measured in all places that could be occupie...

ReviewsLes Ondes Courtes en Thérapeutique. By SaidmanJ. and MeyerJ., 1951, 262 pp. with 85 figures (G. Doin, Paris). Les Ultra-Sons Appliqués à la Médecine. By DenierA., 1951, 192 pp. with 33 figures (L'Expansion Scientifique Française).

The subjects of these two books are related with radiology rather distantly perhaps on the clinical side but much more closely on the physical side, and should therefore be of interest in particular to hospital physicists.

The H.P.A. Diagrams and Data Scheme

The H.P.A. Diagrams and Data SchemePublished Online:28 Jan 2014https://doi.org/10.1259/0007-1285-25-290-88SectionsPDF/EPUB ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack Citations ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InEmail AboutAbstractThis scheme, organised early in 1944 by the Hospital Physicists' Association, has now achieved world-wide recognition as a very convenient and inexpensive channel for the distribution of data and diagrams useful to radiation therapy centres. Since its small beginnings it has been operated, always on a non-profit basis, from Mount Vernon Hospital, Northwood, Middlesex, where facilities have freely been granted, not only for the use of office space and equipment but also for the major part of the man-hours inevitably spent in providing the service. Previous article Next article FiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsCited byPenetration and Diffusion of X Rays Volume 25, Issue 290February 1952Pages: 57-112 © The British Institute of Radiology History Published onlineJanuary 28,2014 Metrics Download PDF

Radiotherapeutic physics. IV. Some developments of the physical aspects of teleradium therapy.

Since the last International Congress of Radiology in Chicago, in 1937, one feature of the development of radiology in this country has been the rapid increase in the number of hospital physicists whose work is chiefly connected with radiotherapy. Coincident with this increase, and not unrelated to it, there has been an increasing measure of collaboration between radiotherapist and hospital physicist in the design and realisation of radiotherapy techniques for the treatment of malignant disease. This close clinical association has certainly been of great educational value to the hospital physicist; it is to be hoped that the radiotherapist has also benefited similarly. In the short time at my disposal it is impossible to deal with more than one facet of this development and that only very inadequately. I have decided to try to outline some of the developments of the physical aspects of teleradium therapy which have occurred since 1937. To this end I shall deal with the subject under two main headings, viz:—(1) apparatus for radium teletherapy; and (2) technique in the use of the apparatus. At Westminster Hospital, from 1936 to the present, two radium mass units have been in use, viz. (a) a 4 gm. unit using a radium-skin distance of 8 cm. and two circular ports of entry of diameters 3·5 cm. and 9 cm. respectively (Flint and Wilson, 1935; Wilson, 1945); and (b) a 2 gm. unit using a radium-skin distance of 5·3 cm. and a single port of entry 3·5 cm. in diameter (Wilson and Pierce, 1938).

VI. Some Aspects of the Problem of Dosage Estimation in X-ray Treatment

The provision of methods for dosage estimation in radiotherapy treatment has been of necessity one of the major concerns of the hospital physicist, and in the last ten to fifteen years a very great effort has been put into the development of methods which can be employed routinely. I think that the time has now come when, with the great widening of interest of hospital physicists even within the field of radiotherapy, we should attempt to examine very critically our approach to the subject of dosage estimation in X-ray treatment and the methods that we use, even at the risk of underrating the value of the work that has already been done. It is important that we should do this not only to ensure that we make the best use of our own facilities and effort, but also so that we can be of greater help to others who are beginning to set up their own hospital physics departments.

The Physicist and his Colleagues First Douglas Lea Memorial Lecture

We are met to commemorate the life and work of Douglas Lea, a member of this Association, whose work in the field of biophysics influenced the thought and changed the direction of experimental procedure in many laboratories scattered over the world. The Council of the Hospital Physicists Association has honoured me by the invitation to speak on behalf of us all on this occasion of the First Memorial Lecture, and I am proud to be able to do so as one of the family. For this occasion is essentially a family affair in which we gather formally to acknowledge our indebtedness to the achievement of a friend and colleague. It is no time for morbid thoughts or regretful memories. We are here to be glad for what has been done by one well known to us all and beloved by one a few. First, then, let us think of D. E. Lea as we knew him personally. Then let us try and view his world by considering the relationship of the physicist with his colleagues. Finally, let us attempt some assessment of Lea's accomplishments dur...

Announcements

THE first Douglas Lea Memorial Lecture of the Hospital Physicists’ Association will be given, on September 16, at the British Institute of Radiology, 32 Welbeck Street, London, W.l, when Dr. F. G. Spear of Cambridge, will speak on “The Physicist and his Colleagues".

The Douglas Lea Memorial Lecture

The Douglas Lea Memorial LecturePublished Online:28 Jan 2014https://doi.org/10.1259/0007-1285-21-248-379SectionsPDF/EPUB ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack Citations ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InEmail AboutAbstractAs a memorial to the late Dr. Douglas Edward Lea, the Hospital Physicists Association has decided to found a memorial lecture, to be given biennially during one of the meetings of the Association by a worker of distinction in the field to which Dr. Lea had made many outstanding contributions—the actions of radiation on living cells. Previous article Next article FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Volume 21, Issue 248August 1948Pages: 373-430 © The British Institute of Radiology History Published onlineJanuary 28,2014 Metrics Download PDF

Douglas Lea Memorial Lecture

As a memorial to the late Dr. Douglas Edward Lea, the Hospital Physicists Association has decided to found a memorial lecture", to be given biennially during one of the meetings of the Association, by a worker of distinction in the field to which Dr. Lea had made many outstanding contributions, namely, the actions of radiation on living cells. The lectures will be open to the public, and the Association has set up a Trust Fund to cover the expenses of these lectures in perpetuity. Any income in excess of that required to meet the expenses of the lectures will be devoted to scientific research or publication. Friends of the late Dr. D. E. Lea who may wish to contribute to this Fund are asked to communicate in the first place with Mr. J. W. Boag, Medical Research Council, Hammersmith Hospital, London, W.12, who will notify them of the way in which contributions should be made.

The Exchange of Diagrams and Data between Radiotherapy Centres: Issue of Catalogue “B” by the Hospital Physicists' Association

The Exchange of Diagrams and Data between Radiotherapy Centres: Issue of Catalogue “B” by the Hospital Physicists' AssociationPublished Online:28 Jan 2014https://doi.org/10.1259/0007-1285-20-232-175SectionsPDF/EPUB ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack Citations ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InEmail AboutAbstractIn the April 1945 number of The British Journal of Radiology a description was given of a scheme organised by the Hospital Physicists' Association to facilitate the exchange of copies of diagrams and data between radiotherapy centres. Previous article Next article FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Volume 20, Issue 232April 1947Pages: 129-176 © The British Institute of Radiology History Published onlineJanuary 28,2014 Metrics Download PDF

Physics at Middlesex Hospital Medical School : Prof. Sidney Russ, C.B.E

PROF. SIDNEY Russ, as announced in Nature of January 4, has recently retired from the Joel chair of physics, attached to the Middlesex Hospital Medical School, and been appointed emeritus professor of physics in the University of London. Prof. Russ was the doyen and one of the most distinguished members of the group of hospital physicists who have played an important part in developing the science of medical radiology. After a brilliant career as an undergraduate at University College, London, he was appointed demonstrator in physics at the University of Manchester. Here he became one of Rutherford's earliest research associates, and with the late Prof. W. Makower investigated the phenomenon of the recoil of atoms undergoing radioactive disintegration. His interest in radiology led to his appointment in 1910 to a Beit Memorial Fellowship tenable* at the Middlesex Hospital, a connexion with this institution which remained unbroken until his retirement in September last. On the expiry of his fellowship he was appointed physicist to the Hospital, and later, in 1920, was appointed to the first chair in physics at a London medical school.

Radiobiological Research

A RECENT number of the British Medical Bulletin (Vol. 4, No. 1, 1946. Is.) is entitled “Radiobiology, Experimental and Applied”. This volume is the second of a series concerned with the applications of physics in medicine and contains twelve reviews. The subjects include most of the problems of contemporary interest in relation to the scientific basis of radiotherapeutics. The introductory article by Dr. F. G. Spear summarizes the whole field of radiobiological research and includes an instructive plate illustrating the relationship between cell division and cell differentiation in normal tissues. Dr. L. H. Gray contributes a valuable review of the influence of 'linear ion density' (specific ionization) on the relative biological efficiency per ion pair. The genetic effects of radiations are lucidly summarized by Dr. D. G. Catcheside. The article by Dr. D. E. Lea on the action of radiation on viruses and bacteria is an only too brief survey of a subject to which he has so largely contributed. Radiotherapists will be especially interested in the review by Dr. A. Gliicksmann entitled “Quantitative Histological Analysis of Radiation-Effects in Human Carcinomata”. The measurement of radiation is discussed by Dr. G. J. Neary in a manner interesting to biologists. Dr. Frank Ellis writes on total energy absorption in radiotherapy and includes much information of practical value. Dr. J. Read summarizes the most important technical methods in use in X-ray therapy, and Prof. S. Russ discusses technical methods in radium therapy. Mr. G. S. Innes reviews the subject of one million volt X-ray therapy and concludes that the “physical and clinical results are such that they lend support to the view that a further increase in voltage to the 5 to 10 million volt range is likely to give still better clinical results”. Protective methods in radiology are of great interest at the present time and are discussed in some detail by Mr. W. Binks. A final short article by Dr. J. Read describes the scheme developed by the Association of Hospital Physicists for the exchange of diagrams and data between radiotherapy centres.

Exchange of Diagrams and Data between Radiotherapy Centres

MEDICAL physics is rapidly expanding into an important and well-defined branch of applied physics. At the present stage of development much information is becoming available for everyday use in hospitals, but the information is scattered through a number of journals and sometimes difficult of access. Of particular importance is the distribution of radiation throughout the soft tissues of a patient during irradiation with high-voltage X-rays or gamma rays. This distribution of radiation is a complex function of the physical conditions, and recently Prof. W. V. Mayneord published a set of X-ray isodose curves giving data of direct practical application. At a meeting of the Hospital Physicists' Association it was suggested that this idea might be applied to teleradium isodose curves, and to other data. It was thought that often graphs and diagrams which appear in the literature were too small to be useful, and that many workers would like to have full-size copies of the originals. In addition, various institutions accumulate diagrams, nomograms, and data for their own use, which would be very useful to others if an interchange of copies could be arranged.

Editorial—The Exchange of Diagrams and Data between Radiotherapy Centres

In The British Journal of Radiology, December 1943,* Professor W. V. Mayneord gave a list of X-ray isodose curves, copies of which could be obtained at the cost of reproduction from the Secretary of the Royal Cancer Hospital (Free), Fulham Road, London S.W.3. At a subsequent meeting of the Hospital Physicists' Association it was suggested that this idea might be applied to radium bomb isodose curves by the Association, and in the discussion which followed the suggestion was widened in scope to include all diagrams, data, etc., of use to radiotherapy centres. It was thought that often graphs and diagrams which appear in the literature were too small to be useful, and many would like to have full size copies of the originals. Also Institutions accumulate diagrams, nomographs, and data (some of the latter the result of laborious computation, e.g., Klein-Nishina absorption coefficients) for their own use, which would be very useful to others if an interchange of copies could be arranged. Therefore a sub-commi...

Hospital Physicists' Association

AN inaugural meeting of the new Hospital Physicists' Association, held by courtesy at the British Institute of Radiology on September 24, was attended by thirty-seven physicists drawn from hospitals all over Great Britain. The aims of the new Association are to discuss matters arising out of the mutual interests of those engaged in a branch of scientific work which has grown up largely in the last thirty years. Membership is open to physicists attached to hospitals, medical schools, medical or biological research departments. The meeting was followed by visits to the Middlesex, Royal Cancer and Westminster Hospitals on the next day. The afternoon session was devoted to papers. Dr. H. T. Flint spoke on technique with the various radium gram-units ; Prof. F. L. Hopwood gave an account of the betatron ; Prof. G. Stead discussed teaching for the diplomas and Prof. S. Russ read a paper on the professional equipment of a hospital physicist. Messages of goodwill from the National Radium Commission and the Council of the British Institute of Radiology were read at the meeting. It was agreed that there should be at least three meetings during the year, one of which should be in the provinces. Prof. Russ was elected chairman for the first year, with Dr. Wilson of Westminster Hospital acting as honorary secretary. Prof. Russ reminded his audience that the first full-time appointment as physicist to the Hospital was made thirty years ago. It is likely that to-day between fifty and sixty physicists were engaged in some capacity in hospital or medical research work. A good start was made with the new Association with plenty of evidence of vitality among its members.