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Basics of Biophysics Lecture (ELT1901E-ENG)

Faculty of Health Sciences and Social Studies, 2019/2020
1st semester

COURSE INFORMATION

Practice: 2 lessons per week
Course code: ELT1901E-ENG
Form of examination: 5 degree mark
Year/semester: 1st year, 1st semester
Credits: 2

COURSE DESCRIPTION

TThe aim of this course is to introduce students to the applications of physics in medical practice.

Syllabus

  1. Fundamentals of biomechanics. Position, velocity and acceleration. Linear momentum. Force. Torque. Work and energy. Power and efficiency. Deformations: tensile stress, shearing stress, torsion; Hooke’s law.
  2. Macrotransport. Flow of ideal fluids and real fluids: equation of continuity, Bernoulli’s law, Laplace’s law. Newton’s law of friction, Hagen–Poiseuille law. Medical aspects of flow: auscultatory method of blood pressure measurement, saliva suction, atherosclerosis and aneurysm. Flow properties of blood.
  3. Microtransport. Fick’s 1st and 2nd law. Oxygen uptake by blood. Osmosis: haemolysis, plasmolysis, haemodialysis. Starling effect and oedemas. Fundamentals of respiration: surface tension.
  4. Heat transport. Forms of heat exchange: heat conduction, convection and radiation, evaporation. Thermography. Medical applications of heat supply or drain.
  5. Charge transport. Formation of resting potential. Origins and propagation of electrotonic and action potential.
  6. Sound and ultrasound. Oscillations. Fundamentals of wave motion. Objective and subjective loudness (decibel and phone scales). Hearing. Doppler effect. Generation and propagation of ultrasound. Ultrasonic diagnostics and therapy.
  7. Light. Absorption of light: Beer–Lambert law, optical density. Emission of light. Spectroscopy. Optics of the eye. Vision, vision defects.
  8. Lasers. Properties of laser light. Principles of lasers. Medical applications of lasers.
  9. X-rays. Generation and properties of X-rays. Attenuation of X-rays in a medium. Diagnostic and therapeutic applications of X-rays.
  10. Nuclear radiation. Types and origin of nuclear radiation. Radioactive decay law. Physical, biological and effective half-life of isotopes.
  11. Dosimetry. Absorbed dose, exposure and effective dose. Radiation meters. Nuclear medicine.
  12. Imaging. Microscopy. Tomography. PET and MRI.

REQUIREMENTS FOR THE SUCCESSFUL COMPLETION OF THE COURSE

Students can earn a maximum of 35 points during the semester. These are distributed into the following categories:
• 28 points: at a date agreed upon after the last lecture, a test consisting of 28 questions (multiple-choice or calculation), 4 questions from each topic;
• 6 points: 2 homework assignments, each for 3 points;
• 1 point: for answering one random question from the lecture material personally.

Scores get converted to marks as follows:

• 29–35 points: excellent (5)
• 25–28 points: good (4)
• 21–24 points: satisfactory (3)
• 18–20 points: passed (2)
• 0–17 points: failed (1)