Year 13
Side A4: Medical Physics
Finish Side A with medical imaging applications and revision.
Part of Year 13 CIE Physics 9702.
Topic Overview
What students will cover
This topic applies Year 13 physics in medical contexts. Each lesson focuses on one imaging method so you can review it clearly before the final revision lesson.
You begin with ultrasound generation, detection, reflection, and attenuation. The X-ray lesson then connects electron bombardment, minimum wavelength, attenuation, contrast, and CT imaging. PET scanning closes the topic by applying nuclear decay and mass-energy ideas to radioactive tracers, annihilation photons, and image reconstruction.
Revision
Topic revision route
Use the generated links below to move from lesson review to retrieval practice, syllabus checks, and useful resources.
Recall vocabulary
piezoelectric transducer
A definition has not been added for this term yet. Use the lesson sequence below to review where it appears.
Specific acoustic impedance
the product of density and speed of sound in a medium,
Z = rho c.reflection coefficient
A definition has not been added for this term yet. Use the lesson sequence below to review where it appears.
attenuation
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contrast
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computed tomography
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tracer
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positron
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annihilation
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gamma-ray photon
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arrival time
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ultrasound
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piezoelectric effect
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transducer
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X-rays
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minimum wavelength
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CT scanning
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PET scanning
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Resource bank
- Lesson resources
- 4
- Topic resources
- 0
Open the relevant lesson first, then use its linked slides, worksheets, simulations, or practice tasks.
Syllabus CIE 9702 coverage in this topic
16 points across 4 lessons
Show details
CIE 9702 coverage in this topic
16 points across 4 lessons
24.1.1
understand that a piezo-electric crystal changes shape when a p.d. is applied across it and that the crystal generates an e.m.f. when its shape changes
24.1.2
understand how ultrasound waves are generated and detected by a piezoelectric transducer
24.1.3
understand how the reflection of pulses of ultrasound at boundaries between tissues can be used to obtain diagnostic information about internal structures
24.1.4
define the specific acoustic impedance of a medium as Z = ρc, where c is the speed of sound in the medium
24.1.5
use IR / I0 = (Z1 – Z2)2 / (Z1 + Z2)2 for the intensity reflection coefficient of a boundary between two media
24.1.6
recall and use I = I0e –µx for the attenuation of ultrasound in matter
24.2.1
explain that X-rays are produced by electron bombardment of a metal target and calculate the minimum wavelength of X-rays produced from the accelerating p.d.
24.2.2
understand the use of X-rays in imaging internal body structures, including an understanding of the term contrast in X-ray imaging
24.2.3
recall and use I = I0e –µx for the attenuation of X-rays in matter
24.2.4
understand that computed tomography (CT) scanning produces a 3D image of an internal structure by first combining multiple X-ray images taken in the same section from different angles to obtain a 2D image of the section, then repeating this process along an axis and combining 2D images of multiple sections
24.3.1
understand that a tracer is a substance containing radioactive nuclei that can be introduced into the body and is then absorbed by the tissue being studied
24.3.2
recall that a tracer that decays by β+ decay is used in positron emission tomography (PET scanning)
24.3.3
understand that annihilation occurs when a particle interacts with its antiparticle and that mass–energy and momentum are conserved in the process
24.3.4
explain that, in PET scanning, positrons emitted by the decay of the tracer annihilate when they interact with electrons in the tissue, producing a pair of gamma-ray photons travelling in opposite directions
24.3.5
calculate the energy of the gamma-ray photons emitted during the annihilation of an electron-positron pair
24.3.6
understand that the gamma-ray photons from an annihilation event travel outside the body and can be detected, and an image of the tracer concentration in the tissue can be created by processing the arrival times of the gamma-ray photons
Lessons
Lesson sequence
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Lesson
01Ultrasounds
Apply wave physics to medical ultrasound imaging.
Lesson
02X-Rays
Study the production, properties, and uses of X-rays.
Lesson
03PET Scanning
Use positron emission tomography as an application of nuclear physics in medicine.
Lesson
04Revision
Consolidate ultrasound, X-ray, CT, and PET imaging before moving on from Side A.