Scientists debate possible cell phone link to brain cancer

Studies have indicated that long-term cell phone use may be associated with brain cancer, according to Dr. Ronald Herberman, director of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, and Dr. David Carpenter, director of Institute for Health and the Environment at University of Albany. They both testified in front of the House Subcommittee on Domestic Policy.

"I cannot tell this committee that cell phones are definitely dangerous. But, I certainly cannot tell you that they are safe," Herberman said.

Herberman and Carpenter cited the results from a study recently presented by Dr. Lennart Hardell of Örebro University in Sweden.

The results indicated that people who use cell phones have double the chance of developing malignant brain tumors and acoustic neuromas, which are tumors on the hearing nerve. The study also said people under age 20 were more than five times as likely to develop brain cancer.

But Dr. Robert Hoover, director or Epidemiology and Biostatistics Program at the National Cancer Institute, said the study has not yet appeared in a peer-reviewed journal, so has not come under sufficient scrutiny. The evidence for the connection between cell phones and cancer is inconclusive and more research is needed, he said.

"Larger studies are needed to sort out chance and bias," Hoover testified.

Interphone, a series of multinational studies on the risk of cancer from cell phones, has not found an increase in tumors associated with the first 10 years of mobile phone use, he said.

Some findings show an increased risk of tumors diagnosed on the side of the head that the cell phone is pressed against, but this pattern has not been seen consistently, Hoover said.

CTIA, the International Association for Wireless Telecommunications, declined the invitation to testify, Rep. Dennis Kucinich, a former Democratic presidential candidate from Ohio, who led the hearing, said.

Steve Largent, CEO of CTIA, issued a statement Wednesday saying the industry has supported scientific research on these issues and supports the Federal Communications Commision's safety guidelines.

"The available scientific evidence and expert reviews from leading global health organizations such as the American Cancer Society, National Cancer Institute, United States Food and Drug Administration and the World Health Organization reflect a consensus based on published scientific research showing that there is no reason for concern," Largent's statement said.

The overall evidence for the cancer-phone link has not been statistically significant at a 95 percent confidence level, a standard in science, Carpenter said. But he also noted that U.S.-funded research is very scarce.

"Are we at the same place we were with smoking and lung cancer 30 years ago?" he asked.

Carpenter and Herberman testified that the risk of brain cancer for children is far greater than for adults. Herberman demonstrated a model showing that the radiation from cell phones would penetrate far deeper into a 5-year-old's brain than an adult's. See models from researchers at the University of Pittsburgh »

But the incidence of brain cancer in children has not increased significantly from the late 1980s to 2005, Hoover said.

The Federal Communications Commission limits cell phone radio frequency energy emissions, called the specific absorption rate (SAR), at 1.6 watts per kilogram, as measured over one gram of tissue.

The standard was developed in 1997 in consultation with Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, a professional association open to everyone, including manufacturers and health specialists.

But the SAR standard reflects a biological response to cell phone radio frequency energy heating tissue, Kucinich said.

Many experiments show that radio frequency energy does cause "biological effects" without heating tissue, although not all of those effects are harmful, Carpenter said. Hoover agreed that there could be such effects related to cancer risk, but they have not been properly vetted in a laboratory.

The FCC itself does not have the expertise to evaluate whether this standard is appropriate protection for possible heath risks, Julius Knapp, director of the FCC's Office of Engineering and Technology, testified.

The hearing took place just a week after the Cleveland Clinic reported a study showing that keeping a cell phone on talk mode in a pocket can decrease sperm quality.

Herberman had issued a warning to physicians, scientists, and staff at the University of Pittsburgh in July advising them to limit cell phone use because of the possible risk of cancer. The Israeli Health Ministry endorsed this recommendation within a week, he said.

Ellen Marks of Lafayette, California, whose husband found out he had a brain tumor on his right frontal lobe in May, attended the hearing.

The tumor is on the same side of his head where he held his cell phone, which he used about 30 hours per month. She believes the tumor is the result of cell phone use.

"I often threatened to throw it in the garbage, and how I wish I had," she said. "This horror could have been avoided with a simple warning."

http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/09/25/cellphones.cancer/index.html#cnnSTCText

Solar Power Hits Home

There were limits to how green Bruce Letvin was willing to go. For years, the 53-year-old anatomy professor had wanted to install solar panels on his Manhattan Beach, Calif., home. But the up-front installation costs always outweighed the benefits for the environment and his conscience. This spring, however, he managed to work out green financing with the help of solar company SunPower. After determining that his electricity bills and roof exposure were large enough to make him a good candidate for its solar panels, the company, based in San Jose, Calif., helped him find a 15-year loan for the $64,500 system. Yes, his $550 loan payment is more than the $300 or so he used to spend each month on electricity bills--so far, he has generated enough solar power that he doesn't need to take any juice from the grid--but after he pays off the loan, his power will be free. And this year, he'll get a $16,000 rebate in the form of federal and state tax incentives for solar. "I really wouldn't have been able to do this without the financing," he says. "But with [the loan], it's a no-brainer."

More Going Green

That stiff up-front cost has always been the biggest barrier to residential use of solar power. An average set of rooftop panels costs $20,000 to $30,000 and takes 10 to 15 years to produce enough electricity to pay for itself--a deal not unlike asking a new cell-phone owner to pay in advance for a decade's worth of minutes. But that equation will change as the cost of solar panels drops and the price of fossil-fuel-generated electricity rises. (Letvin's utility provider just put in for a 30% rate increase for the heaviest power users.) Photovoltaic solar installations were up 45% last year compared with 2006, with about a third of those systems going on residential roofs. And now solar companies and banks are helping homeowners stretch the cost over the lifetime of the panels, and sunny California is at the forefront of this trend. In April, SolarCity, one of the biggest panel installers in the state, began offering no-money-down leases for home installation. Says ceo Lyndon Rive: "If you had the choice of using clean power over dirty power and paying less for it, wouldn't you take it?"

Sure, solar panels are a hefty investment, and credit markets are tightening up. But with carbon caps looming on the horizon and power supplies running short, customers like John Stubblebine of Cupertino, Calif., can insulate themselves from future electricity shocks. A technology consultant, he financed a $35,000 system with a 15-year lease from SolarCity. "If the worst forecasts are true, I'll come out a big winner," he says.

Still, solar isn't for every home. Different parts of the U.S. receive vastly different amounts of sunlight, so a solar panel in sun-drenched Las Vegas will always be more productive than one in cloudy Seattle. Incentives vary from state to state and can tip the numbers as well. But financing means that at least you won't need a lot of excess green to go green.

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1830386,00.html

Weight-loss goals: 10 tips for success

(MayoClinic.com) Weight-loss goals can mean the difference between success and failure. Well-planned weight-loss goals keep you focused and motivated. They provide a plan for change as you think about and transition into your healthy lifestyle.

But not all goals are helpful. Unrealistic and aggressive weight-loss goals — for example, losing 10 pounds each week or fitting into your high school jeans — undermine your efforts. They're difficult, if not impossible, to meet. And if your goals are beyond reach, you're more likely to feel frustrated and discouraged and leave your weight-loss plans by the wayside.

So how do you create weight-loss goals that will help, not hinder, your weight-loss efforts? These 10 tips can get you started.

• Personalize your goals. Set goals that are within your capabilities and take into account your limitations. Also, take into account your personal fitness level, health concerns, available time and motivation. Tailoring your expectations to your personal situation helps you set achievable goals.
• Aim for realistic weight-loss goals. Healthy weight loss occurs slowly and steadily. Aim to lose 1 to 2 pounds a week. To do this, you need to burn 500 to 1,000 calories more than you consume each day through a low-calorie diet and regular exercise. Losing weight more rapidly usually means losing water weight or muscle tissue, rather than fat.
• Focus on the process. Make your goals "process goals," such as exercising regularly, rather than "outcome goals," such as losing 50 pounds. Changing your process — your habits — is the key to weight loss. Make sure that your process goals are realistic, specific and measurable. For example, set out to walk for 30 minutes a day, five days a week.
• Think short term and long term. Short-term goals keep you engaged on a daily basis, but long-term goals motivate you over the long haul. Your short-term goals (for example, running 30 minutes every day) can become stepping stones to reaching long-term goals (running in a marathon).
• Write it down. When planning your goals, write everything down and go through all the details. When and where will you do it? How will it fit into your schedule? What do you need to get started?
• Pick a date. Timing is crucial, often making the difference between success and failure. Choose a definite start date and don't put that date off for anything. Be sure to account for life circumstances that might hamper your efforts, such as work or school demands or relationship problems. You may need to resolve some issues before starting.
• Start small. It's helpful to plan a series of small goals that build on each other instead of one big, all-encompassing goal. Remember that you're in this for the long haul. Anything you undertake too intensely or too vigorously will quickly become uncomfortable and you're more likely to give it up.
• Plan for setbacks. Setbacks are a natural part of behavior change. Everyone who successfully makes changes in his or her life has experienced setbacks. Identifying potential roadblocks and brainstorming specific strategies to overcome them can help you stay on course.
• Evaluate your progress. Review your goals each week. Were you able to successfully meet your goals last week? Think about what worked and what didn't. Make plans for how you will reach your goals this week.
• Reassess and adjust your goals as needed. Be willing to change your goals as you progress in your weight-loss plan. If you started small, you might be ready to take on larger challenges. Or, you might find that you need to adjust your goals to better fit your new lifestyle.

Medical Physicists - transforming scientific advances in the research lab to improve the quality of life for patients

Medical physicists are scientists. It is through science that they are able to identify problems and unveil deficiencies. It is also through science that they solve the problems and correct the deficiencies.

From the time when Wilhelm Roentgen and other physicists made the discoveries which led to the development of diagnostic radiology, radiotherapy, brachytheraphy and nuclear medicine, medical physicists have played a pivotal role in the development of new technologies that have revolutionized the way medicine is practiced. In today's health care scene, the medical physicist is essential to the safe and cost effective operation of any creditable medical institutiom.

There will be exciting and difficult challenges in the field of health care during this century. Count on the science of medical physics to help you meet the challenge.

Count on your medical physicist to:

Meet the challenge of cost effective health care by:

• Dealing with the headaches and costs of regulations
• Reducing expense in equipment purchase and maintenance
• Preventing costly lawsuits

Perform radiation procedures:

• Preventing patient overexposure
• Limiting employee exposure
• Bringing the latests advances in technology into your department to be used in your most complex cases

Ensure excellence by:

• Maximizing effectiveness of new equipment
• Balancing faster and more detailed imaging for optimal image quality
• Continuous Quality Improvement

http://www.aapm.org/medical_physicist/info.asp

Advancing radiation oncology

Medical physics is pioneering the radiation oncology of the future. Today, 50-65% of all cancer patients receive radiation therapy. Each year the treatments become more complex, more sophisticated, save more lives.

The advancements have been made possible in large part by the science of medical physics. Radiation oncology of the future will demand the continuing support and contribution of qualified medical physicists. How cost effective is the participation of a medical physicist in your radiation oncology program?

When your institution purchases a new machine for treatment of cancer patients, it must be calibrated by a qualified medical physicist. This essential service is the difference between providing safe and accurate care to each of the patients who will be treated over the ten year life of the machine or allowing incorrecnt and potentially harmful treatment.

With up to a 65% of all cancer patients receiving radiation (at an average patient charge of $6,000), the quality assurance provided by medical physicists is an economic as well as a performance issue. Medical physicists possess the knowledge and skill necessary to provide treatments that meet today's exacting standards. Their contributions are reflected in the physics reimbursement codes 77300-77370.

Be sure your program includes the skill, knowledge and dedication of qualified medical physicists. It's the science you can count on...now and into the future.

http://www.aapm.org/medical_physicist/info.asp

The Extraordinary World of Medical Imaging

Medical Physics is helping make remarkable advances in the field of medical imaging.

Throughout the past century, medical physicists have been at the forefront of the development of the dynamic field of medical imaging. Early detection of breast cancer relies heavily on these efforts.

The image modalities used in diagnosing this disease, namely mammography, CT, MRI, ultrasound and PET, have been developed, tested and standardized by medical physicists, working closely with diagnostic radiologists. Medical physicists were the first to develop standards which have now become federal law, resulting in improved quality of mammograms and reduced radiation dose. These improvements allow earlier detection, an important advance in the fight against this deadly disease.

http://www.aapm.org/medical_physicist/info.asp

Cost effective, 21st century health care

Medical Physics is a vital part of the cost effective health care of the future. Every day the pressures on health care professionals to make their industry more cost effective are increasing. Into the next century, as society and the government deal with the financial realities of an aging population, these pressures will intensify. Medical physics can play a key role in this area. Participation in your ogranization's program by qualified medical physicists can produce billable services, save money on equipment negotiation and prevent mistakes that can eventually cost thousands of dollars.

Avoiding litigation
Participation by a medical physicist can provide added protection against costly litigation. In the areas of both diagnosis and treatment a good quality control program maintained by a qualified medical physicist can prevent equipment miscalibration or dose miscalculation that could result in multi-million dollar lawsuits.

Avoiding regulatory headaches
In addition, your medical physics program can save headaches and cost when dealing with the ever increasing regulation of today's health care. A violation with the NRC, your state or the JCAHO is not only costly, the bad publicity can often lead to a loss of income. Wading through the reams of complicated, convoluted NRC regulations can be expedited by the involvement of your medical physics staff.

Evaluation and selecting high cost equipment
Medical physicists are involved in the negotiating the purchase of high tech, million dollar machines to ensure you get the best value for your money. They write specifications to guarantee that your hospital is getting the equipment it needs. Often the price of the machine and service contracts which are a costly part of a purchase (a CT scanner contract can be as much as $100,000 per year) can be reduced. Some of the options available for high priced equipment can also be added at no cost during negotiations.

Getting your money's worth
Once your equipment is purchased, medical physicists evaluate how well the equipment meets the specifications by performing rigorous acceptance testing and commissioning. Some institutions lose money by scheduling machine replacement on a regular basis even when the equipment is operating properly. Involvement of a medical physicist in continuous quality improvement and maintenance results in the reliable operation and extended life of your equipment.

Be sure the future of your insitution is secure in the hands of a qualified medical physicist. It's the science you can count on.

http://www.aapm.org/medical_physicist/info.asp

How does someone become a Medical Physicist?

Several U.S. universities offer academic programs in medical physics leading to a master's or doctor's degree. A thorough preparation in general physics is highly desirable before entry into these programs. The most common programs emphasize the physical properties and medical applications of radiation of all types. Important skills that should be acquired during academic training include knowledge of electronics and computer techniques. A list of training programs is available here.

Academic training alone does not make a medical physicist. Practical experience with medical problems is essential. This experience may be acquired through a residency traineeship or postodoctoral program of one or two years in a hospital. These programs are becoming an increasingly important mode of entry into the profession. A list of institutions offering such residency programs is also available here.

http://www.aapm.org/medical_physicist/education.asp

What are the Credentials of a Medical Physicist?

What are the Credentials of a Medical Physicist?

Medical physicists have an MS or Ph.D. in medical physics, physics, radiation biology, or a related discipline, and training in clinical medical physics. Clinical training may be obtained through a residency traineeship or a postdoctoral program of one or two years in a hospital. Clinical medical physicists are employed in medical schools, hospitals or clinics, or are in private practice. These physicists divide their time between clinical service and consultation, research and development, and teaching. Some medical physicists work in industrial or research positions, and have no clinical responsibilities.

The American Board of Radiology certifies medical physicists, as does the American Board of Medical Physics. Medical physicists contribute to the education and certification of radiologists and radiation oncologists.

http://www.aapm.org/medical_physicist/credentials.asp

Definition of a Qualified Medical Physicist

A Qualified Medical Physicist is an individual who is competent to practice independently one or more of the subfields of medical physics.

1.
Therapeutic Radiological Physics
This particular field pertains to:
* the therapeutic applications of x-rays, gamma rays, electron and charged particle beams, neutrons and radiations from sealed radionuclide sources
* the equipment associated with their production, use, measurement and evaluation
* the quality of images resulting from their production and use
* medical health physics associated with this subfield
2.
Diagnostic Radiological Physics
This particular field pertains to:
* the diagnostic applications of x rays, gamma rays from sealed sources, ultrasonic radiation, radio frequency radiation and magnetic fields
* the equipment associated with their production, use, measurement and evaluation
* the quality of images resulting from their production and use
* medical health physics associated with this subfield
3.
Medical Nuclear Physics
This particular field pertains to:
* 1. the therapeutic and diagnostic applications of radionuclides (except those used in sealed sources for therapeutic purposes)
* the equipment associated with their production, use, measurement and evaluation
* the quality of images resulting form their production and use
* medical health physics associated with this subfield
4.
Medical Health Physics
This particular field pertains to:
* the safe use of x rays, gamma rays, electron and other charged particle beams of neutrons or radionuclides and of radiation from sealed radionuclide sources for both diagnostic and therapeutic purposes, except with regard to the application of radiation to patients for diagnostic or therapeutic purposes
* the instrumentation required to perform appropriate radiation surveys

It is expected that an individual will not hold himself/herself out to be qualified in a subfield for which he/she has not established competency. An individual will be considered competent to practice one or more of the subfields of Medical Physics if that individual is certified in that subfield by any one of the following:

* The American Board of Radiology
* The American Board of Medical Physics
* The American Board of Health Physics
* The American Board of Science in Nuclear Medicine
* The Canadian College of Physics in Medicine

The American Association of Physicists in Medicine regards board certification in the appropriate medical subfield as the appropriate qualification for the designation of Qualified Medical Physicist.

In addition to the above qualifications, a Qualified Medical Physicist shall meet and uphold the "Guidelines for Ethical Practice for Medical Physicists" as published by the American Association of Physicists in Medicine, and satisfy state licensure where applicable.

http://www.aapm.org/medical_physicist/fields.asp#therepeautic

What do Medical Physicists Do?

Medical physicists are concerned with three areas of activity: clinical service and consultation, research and development, and teaching. On the average their time is distributed equally among these three areas.
Clinical Service and Consultation

Many medical physicists are heavily involved with responsibilities in areas of diagnosis and treatment, often with specific patients. These activities take the form of consultations with physician colleagues. In radiation oncology departments, one important example is the planning of radiation treatments for cancer patients, using either external radiation beams or internal radioactive sources. An indispensable service is the accurate measurement of the radiation output from radiation sources employed in cancer therapy. In the specialty of nuclear medicine, physicists collaborate with physicians in procedures utilizing radionuclides for delineating internal organs and determining important physiological variables, such as metabolic rates and blood flow. Other important services are rendered through investigation of equipment perfor­mance, organization of quality control in imaging systems, design of radiation installations, and control of radiation hazards. The medical physicist is called upon to contribute clinical and scientific advice and resources to solve the numerous and diverse physical problems that arise continually in many specialized medical areas.
Research and Development

Medical physicists play a vital and often leading role on the medical research team. Their activities cover wide frontiers, including such key areas as cancer, heart disease, and mental illness. In cancer, they work primarily on issues involving radiation, such as the basic mechanisms of biological change after irradiation, the application of new high-energy machines to patient treatment, and the development of new techniques for precise measurement of radiation. Significant computer developments continue in the area of dose calculation for patient treatment and video display of this treatment information. Particle irradiation is an area of active research with promising biological advantages over traditional photon treatment. In heart disease, physicists work on the measurement of blood flow and oxygenation. In mental illness, they work on the recording, correlation, and interpretation of bioelectric potentials.

Medical physicists are also concerned with research of general medical significance, including the applications of digital computers in medicine and applications of information theory to diagnostic problems; processing, storing, and retrieving medical images; measuring the amount of radioactivity in the human body and foodstuffs; and studying the anatomical and temporal distribution of radioactive substances in the body.

Medical physicists are also involved in the development of new instrumentation and technology for use in diagnostic radiology. These include the use of magnetic and electro-optical storage devices for the manipulation of x-ray images, quantitative analysis of both static and dynamic images using digital computer techniques, radiation methods for the analysis of tissue characteristics and composition, and the exciting new areas of computerized tomography and magnetic resonance imaging for displaying detailed cross-sectional images of the anatomy. Medical physicists are also engaged in research and development on imaging procedures utilizing infrared and ultrasound sources.

Typical examples of the various research areas presently under active investigation may be found in scientific journals dedicated to this field. The journal, Medical Physics, is published by the AAPM. In addition, the AAPM holds two national scientific meetings a year, one in the summer and one in the winter. During the winter meeting, the AAPM conducts scientific sessions in joint sponsorship with the Radiological Society of North America. Special summer courses, workshops, and frequent regional meetings are also held by the AAPM.
Teaching

Often medical physicists have faculty appointments at universities and colleges, where they help train future medical physicists, resident physicians, medical students, and technologists who operate the various types of equipment used to perform diagnosis and treatment. They also conduct courses in medical physics and aspects of biophysics and radiobiology for a variety of gradu­ate and undergraduate students. The Commission on Accreditation of Medical Physics Education Programs, Inc. (CAMPEP), jointly sponsored by the American College of Radiology (ACR), American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) and the American College of Medical Physics (ACMP), assures high educational standards in the field. A list of accredited programs is available here.

http://www.aapm.org/medical_physicist/types_work.asp#clinical

What Is a Medical Physicist?

Medical Physics

An applied branch of physics concerned with the application of the concepts and methods of physics to the diagnosis and treatment of human disease. It is allied with medical electronics, bioengineering, and health physics.
What Is a Medical Physicist?

Medical physicists contribute to the effectiveness of radiological imaging procedures by assuring radiation safety and helping to develop improved imaging techniques (e.g., mammography CT, MR, ultrasound). They contribute to development of therapeutic techniques (e.g., prostate implants, stereotactic radiosurgery), collaborate with radiation oncologists to design treatment plans, and monitor equipment and procedures to insure that cancer patients receive the prescribed dose of radiation to the correct location.
What do Medical Physicists Do?

Medical physicists are concerned with three areas of activity: clinical service and consultation, research and development, and teaching. On the average their time is distributed equally among these three areas.
Scope of Practice

The essential responsibility of the Qualified Medical Physicist’s clinical practice is to assure the safe and effective delivery of radiation to achieve a diagnostic or therapeutic result as prescribed in patient care. The medical physicist performs or supervises the pertinent procedures necessary to achieve this objective. The responsibilities of the medical physicist include: protection of the patient and others from potentially harmful or excessive radiation; establishment of adequate protocols to ensure accurate patient dosimetry; the measurement and characterization of radiation; the determination of delivered dose; advancement of procedures necessary to ensure image quality; development and direction of quality assurance programs; and assistance to other health care professionals in optimizing the balance between the beneficial and deleterious effects of radiation. Read more...
Definition of a Qualified Medical Physicist

A Qualified Medical Physicist is an individual who is competent to practice independently one or more of the subfields of medical physics.

Medical imaging

Medical imaging refers to the techniques and processes used to create images of the human body (or parts thereof) for clinical purposes (medical procedures seeking to reveal, diagnose or examine disease) or medical science (including the study of normal anatomy and physiology).

As a discipline and in its widest sense, it is part of biological imaging and incorporates radiology (in the wider sense), radiological sciences, endoscopy, (medical) thermography, medical photography and microscopy (e.g. for human pathological investigations).

Measurement and recording techniques which are not primarily designed to produce images, such as electroencephalography (EEG) and magnetoencephalography (MEG) and others, but which produce data susceptible to be represented as maps (i.e. containing positional information), can be seen as forms of medical imaging.

In the clinical context, medical imaging is generally equated to radiology or "clinical imaging" and the medical practitioner responsible for interpreting (and sometimes acquiring) the images is a radiologist. Diagnostic radiography designates the technical aspects of medical imaging and in particular the acquisition of medical images. The radiographer or radiologic technologist is usually responsible for acquiring medical images of diagnostic quality, although some radiological interventions are performed by radiologists.

As a field of scientific investigation, medical imaging constitutes a sub-discipline of biomedical engineering, medical physics or medicine depending on the context: Research and development in the area of instrumentation, image acquisition (e.g. radiography), modelling and quantification are usually the preserve of biomedical engineering, medical physics and computer science; Research into the application and interpretation of medical images is usually the preserve of radiology and the medical sub-discipline relevant to medical condition or area of medical science (neuroscience, cardiology, psychiatry, psychology, etc) under investigation. Many of the techniques developed for medical imaging also have scientific and industrial applications.

Medical imaging is often perceived to designate of the set of techniques that noninvasively produce images of the internal aspect of the body. In this restricted sense, medical imaging can be seen as the solution of mathematical inverse problems. This means that cause (the properties of living tissue) is inferred from effect (the observed signal). In the case of ultrasonography the probe consists of ultrasonic pressure waves and echoes inside the tissue show the internal structure. In the case of projection radiography, the probe is X-ray radiation which is absorbed at different rates in different tissue types such as bone, muscle and fat.
from : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diagnostic_radiology

Areas of specialty

Medical imaging
* Diagnostic radiology, including x-rays, fluoroscopy, mammography, Dual energy X-ray absorptiometry, angiography and Computed tomography
* Ultrasound, including intravascular ultrasound
* Non-ionising radiation (Lasers, Ultraviolet etc.)
* Nuclear medicine, including SPECT and positron emission tomography (PET)
* Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), including functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and other methods for functional neuroimaging of the brain.
o For example, nuclear magnetic resonance (often referred to as magnetic resonance imaging to avoid the common concerns about radiation), uses the phenomenon of nuclear resonance to image the human body.
* Magnetoencephalography
* Electrical impedance tomography
* Diffuse optical imaging
* Optical coherence tomography


Treatment of disease

* Defibrillation
* High intensity focussed ultrasound, including lithotripsy
* Interventional radiology
* Non-ionising radiation Lasers, Ultraviolet etc. including photodynamic therapy and Lasik
* Nuclear medicine, including unsealed source radiotherapy
* Photomedicine, the use of light to treat and diagnose disease
* Radiotherapy
o TomoTherapy
o Cyberknife
o Gamma knife
o Proton therapy
o Brachytherapy
o Boron Neutron Capture Therapy
* Sealed source radiotherapy
* Terahertz radiation


Physiological measurement techniques

Used to monitor and measure various physiological parameters. Many physiological measurement techniques are non-invasive and can be used in conjunction with, or as an alternative to, other invasive methods.

* Electrocardiography
* Electromyography
* Electroencephalography
* Electronystagmography
* Endoscopy
* Medical ultrasonography
* Non-ionising radiation (Lasers, Ultraviolet etc.)
* Near infrared spectroscopy
* Pulse oximetry
* Blood gas monitor
* Blood pressure measurement


Radiation protection

* Background radiation
* Radiation protection
* Dosimetry
* Health Physics
* Radiological Protection of Patients


Medical computing and mathematics

* Medical informatics
* Telemedicine
* Picture archiving and communication systems (PACS)
* DICOM
* Tomographic reconstruction, an ill-posed inverse problem
* Advanced Digital Imaging Solutions Laboratory[ADISL]