The Physics Behind Safer Medical Care
A hospital machine can help doctors see a broken bone or treat a tumor, but how can the medical team know that the machine is working as it should? One expert who helps answer that question is a medical physicist. Medical physicists use their knowledge of physics to help make imaging and treatment accurate and safe.
November 7 is the International Day of Medical Physics. It falls on the birthday of scientist Marie Curie, whose research on radioactivity helped open the way for many discoveries. Today, medical physicists work with doctors, technologists, and other specialists to apply scientific knowledge to patient care.
Checking the equipment
Some hospital imaging machines use radiation, a form of energy, to make pictures of the inside of the body. An X-ray machine sends a small amount of radiation through part of the body. A detector records how much of the X-ray beam reaches it. The machine uses that pattern to build an image. Bones show up differently from softer tissues because they absorb different amounts of radiation.
- accurate:
- Correct or close to the intended result.
- detector:
- A device that senses or records something.
- absorb:
- To take in something, such as energy.
- exposure:
- Contact with something, such as radiation.
- achievable:
- Possible to reach or accomplish.
- investigates:
- Examines something carefully to find out what happened.
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Preview questions from this passageShowHide
- 1What is the main job of a medical physicist described in the passage? Give two examples.
- 2Why do bones show up differently from softer tissues in an X-ray image?
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About this explanatory article passage for Upper Elementary
“The Physics Behind Safer Medical Care” is a explanatory article reading passage about Medical physics, written for Upper Elementary. It takes about 4 minutes to read (549 words) and comes with an interactive quiz and a printable worksheet with comprehension questions and an answer key.