FYS9535 – Medical Applications of Nuclear Physics
Course description
Schedule, syllabus and examination date
Course content
The course provides an introduction to how radioactive substances and the physical properties of the atomic nucleus is used in medicine, both for diagnostics and therapy.
Learning outcome
After completing the course:
- you have basic knowledge about the physical and chemical properties of radioactivity and radioactive substances.
- you have knowledge about concepts like dose and the interaction of nuclear radiation with matter, especially in view of the radiations use in molecular targeted cancer treatment.
- you have knowledge about principles for detection of nuclear radiation (different types of detectors, detection limits, uncertainty analysis).
- you have detailed knowledge of how radioactive nuclides are produced in different types of nuclear reactions (using neutrons and charged particles) and how these nuclides connect to carrier molecules that have a specific transport path, physiological function or interaction with processes in the body.
- you know how radioactive trace elements can be used in diagnosis and therapy.
- you have knowledge of nuclear medicine detector systems from the simplest (single-detector full body) to the more complicated, such as SPECT (Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography) and PET (Positron Emission Tomography).
- you have knowledge about diagnosis and therapy using external radiation such as: X-ray and CT (Computer Tomography), Proton and 12C-therapy.
- you are familiar with structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), especially for the fusion of MRI with the functional techniques PET and SPECT, and how nuclear radiation is used in medicine, both in the form of injected radioactive trace elements (tracers) and as external rays.
- you have good knowledge of how proton and carbon therapy works, can calculate dose exposure and explain tomographic techniques and imaging.
Admission to the course
PhD candidates from the University of Oslo should apply for classes and register for examinations through?Studentweb.
If a course has limited intake capacity, priority will be given to PhD candidates who follow an individual education plan where this particular course is included. Some national researchers’ schools may have specific rules for ranking applicants for courses with limited intake capacity.
PhD candidates who have been admitted to another higher education institution must?apply for a position as a visiting student?within a given deadline.
Recommended previous knowledge
You should have some knowledge of production and use of radioactive substances in medicine, for instance from a course within one of the following disciplins: nuclear physics, nuclear chemistry, pharmacy, medicine or medical physics.
Overlapping courses
- 10 credits overlap with FYS4535 – Medical Applications of Nuclear Physics.
- 10 credits overlap with FYS3535 – Medical Applications of Nuclear Physics.
Teaching
There is a compulsory attendance for the first lecture. Your registration for the course is withdrawn, if a valid reason for missing the first lecture has not been reported to the Department of Physics studieinfo@fys.uio.no before the lecture starts!
- 4 hours of lecture per week. Some of these hours are combined with theoretical exercises in the classroom.
The course has an excursion to production laboratories (IFE, Oslo Cyclotron Laboratory and Norwegian Medical Cyclotron Laboratory and applied centers (Radiumhospitalet or Rikshospitalet).
About halfway through the semester, students are given an individual theme to prepare a 15-20 minute mandatory presentation. The presentation will be conducted for lecturers and students in plenary. To be eligible for sitting the exam, the oral presentation must be approved.
As?the?teaching involves laboratory and/or fieldwork, you should consider taking out separate travel and personal risk insurance.?Read about your insurance cover as a student.
Examination
- Final oral exam which counts 100% towards the final exam.
The oral presentation must be approved before you can take the final exam.
It will also be counted as one of the three attempts to sit the exam for this course, if you sit the exam for one of the following courses: FYS4535 – Medical Applications of Nuclear Physics
Examination support material
Nuclide chart
Grading scale
Grades are awarded on a pass/fail scale. Read more about the grading system.
Resit an examination
Students who can document a valid reason for absence from the regular examination are offered a?postponed exam?at the beginning of the next semester.
New examinations?are offered at the beginning of the next semester for students who do not successfully complete the exam during the previous semester.
We do not offer a re-scheduled exam for students who withdraw during the exam.
More about examinations at UiO
- Use of sources and citations
- Special exam arrangements due to individual needs
- Withdrawal from an exam
- Illness at exams / postponed exams
- Explanation of grades and appeals
- Resitting an exam
- Cheating/attempted cheating
You will find further guides and resources at the web page on examinations at UiO.