Medical Physics

The course aims to provide students with a general understanding of the fundamental principles of physics and their implications in the biomedical field and in the study of the human body, with particular reference to the structure and normal functioning of the body and to topics relevant to the curriculum of studies and the profession of the medical doctor: mechanics of bodies and fluids, phenomena of transport in liquids, principles of thermodynamics, basic concepts of electromagnetism and optics, ionizing radiation, elements of medical imaging. The course also aims to convey the methodological process of physics, as the basis of scientific learning.

At the end of the course the student will have to
- know the fundamental principles of physics of the mechanics of solid bodies, liquids and gases, of the main phenomena of transport on cellular and molecular scale, of thermodynamics, of electrical and magnetic phenomena, of optics and ionizing radiations;
- be able to describe and apply in the context of physics problems the topics most directly connected to the biomedical field and to be able to give quantitative evaluations and estimates of the phenomena analyzed;
- describe the basic principles of use of ionizing radiation, mechanical waves and magnetic fields for the creation of diagnostic images, with particular reference to digital radiology, ultrasound, computerized tomography and magnetic resonance.