The phantoms of medical and health physics: devices for research and development

A comprehensive overview of all types of phantoms used in medical imaging, therapy, nuclear medicine and health physics is provided in this title. For ionizing radiation, dosimetry with respect to issues of material composition, shape, and motion/position effects are all highlighted. For medical imaging, each type of technology will need specific materials and designs, and the physics and indications will be explored for each type. Health physics phantoms are concerned with some of the same issues such as material heterogeneity, but also unique issues such as organ-specific radiation dose from sources distributed in other organs. Though some of the information enclosed is found in other sources, divided especially along the three categories of imaging, therapy, and health physics, many medical physicists as well as professionals need to bridge these three catagories. Readers will be able to use this book to select the appropriate phantom from a vendor at a clinic, to learn from as a student, to choose materials for custom phantom design, to design dynamic features, and as a reference for a variety of applications.