Medical Physics Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Medical Physics, including details on medicine, radiotherapy, biomechanics, medical imaging.

Evolving and experimental technologies in medical imaging.

Wolbarst AB, Hendee WR

Department of Radiation Medicine, Georgetown University Medical School, Washington, DC, USA.

Medical images are created by detecting radiation probes transmitted through or emitted or scattered by the body. The radiation, modulated through interactions with tissues, yields patterns that provide anatomic and/or physiologic information. X-rays, gamma rays, radiofrequency signals, and ultrasound waves are the standard probes, but others like visible and infrared light, microwaves, terahertz rays, and intrinsic and applied electric and magnetic fields are being explored. Some of the younger technologies, such as molecular imaging, may enhance existing imaging modalities; however, they also, in combination with nanotechnology, biotechnology, bioinformatics, and new forms of computational hardware and software, may well lead to novel approaches to clinical imaging. This review provides a brief overview of the current state of image-based diagnostic medicine and offers comments on the directions in which some of its subfields may be heading.

Published 23 December 2005 in Radiology, 238(1): 16-39.
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