Department of Physics Faculty of Pure and Applied Sciences University of the West Indies, Mona

PHYS3390 Further Medical Physics and Bioengineering

Revised January 2012

Contents Experiment # Page

1. Inverse Square and Exponential law in medical diagnostics ........... 3 2. IEUBK ......................................................................................... 11 3. Audiometry. 4. Poiseuilles Law and Fluid flow..................................................... 13 5. Sports Biomechanics- Lab Project.................................................... 16

Inverse Square and Exponential Law in medical diagnostics

Aim: To illustrate and verify inverse square law and exponential law experimentally for different sources and link these principles to practices in medical diagnostics and treatment. Materials: Method: Spectrometer, NaI detector, source shelf, Cobalt 60 and Cesium 137. As written in attached manuals.

Additional Instructions: Follow the lab procedure and answer questions from attached scripts. Repeat both procedures for dual sources, one of higher energy gamma ray emissions and one of lower energy gamma ray emissions. The results should be taken in lab and the plotting and analysis done at home. Plot experimental data to demonstrate ISL for both low and high gamma energy sources. Determine mass absorption coefficient for aluminum and lead. Compare with accepted mu value and resultant half value thickness. Indicate source used as reference. Discuss how the principles of (a) Inverse Square law and (b) Exponential law are used/manipulated in X-ray diagnostics/nuclear medicine. Due date: Format: 1 week after results are taken Standard lab report format.

Part #1: Inverse Square Law Objective: The student will verify the inverse square relationship between the distance and intensity of radiation. Pre-lab Questions: 1. Write a general mathematical expression for an inverse square law. 2. What are other examples of inverse square laws? Introduction: As a source is moved away from the detector, the intensity, or amount of detected radiation, decreases. You may have observed this effect in a previous experiment, Shelf Ratios Lab. If not, you have observed a similar effect in your life. The farther you move away from a friend, the harder it is to hear them. Or the farther you move away from a light source, the harder it is to see. Basically, nature provides many examples (including light, sound, and radiation) that follow an inverse square law.

What an inverse square law says is that as you double the distance between source and detector, intensity goes down by a factor of four. If you triple the distance, intensity would decrease by a factor of nine. If you quadruple the distance, the intensity would decrease by a factor of 16, and so on and so on. As a result, if you move to a distanced away from the window of the GM counter, then the intensity of radiation decreases by a factor 1/d2. Equipment: Set-up for ST-350 Counter with GM Tube and stand (Counter box, power supply transformer, GM Tube, shelf stand, serial cable, and a source holder for the stand) shown in Figure 1. Procedure: 1. Setup the Geiger counter as you have in the previous experiments. Set the voltage of the GM tube to its optimal operating voltage, which should be around 900 Volts. 2. From the Preset menu, set Runs to zero and set Preset Time to 30. 3. First do a run without a radioactive source to determine your background level. 4. Next, place the radioactive source in the top shelf and begin taking data. In this position, the source is 2 cm from the GM tubes actual detector components. 5. Move the source down one shelf each time and take another run. You should see the data accumulating in the Data window. After all ten shelves have been used, save the data onto disk or record in a data table. Remember that the first run is a background number. Data Analysis: Open Microsoft Excel and import your data into it. Plot appropriate graphs for all your data using the trend line option to display equation on chart. Conclusions: Use your graph to determine if the data does indeed obey inverse square law. Post-Lab Questions: 1. Does your data follow Excels best fit line? If not, why? 2. Does this verify the inverse square law, explain?

Part #2: Absorption of Gamma Rays Objective: The student will investigate the attenuation of radiation via the absorption of gamma rays. Pre-lab Questions: 1. How do gamma rays interact with matter (hint: there are three ways)? 2. Where are gamma rays on the electromagnetic spectrum? What are the characteristics (high, low, short, or long) of their wavelength, frequency, and energy? 3. How do you calculate mass thickness (g/cm2) from other quantities of a material? Introduction: Gamma radiation unlike alpha and beta radiation, consists of electromagnetic waves. Gamma rays are emitted as photons, or little packages of energy called quanta, which travel at the speed of light (c = 3.0 x 108 m/s11). What differentiates gamma rays, x-rays, visible light, and radio waves is their position in the electromagnetic spectrum (see Figure 1). What actually happens is that some of these zones actually overlap, especially between x-rays and gamma rays. While this is not shown in explicitly in Figure 1, you can see that the x-rays and gamma rays do reside next to one another on the spectrum.

Figure 1: The electromagnetic spectrum

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A unit conversion shows that 3.0 x 108 m/s = 30 cm/ns. That means in one nanosecond light travels 30 cm or in

one second light travels 30 billion centimeters

One significant difference between x-rays and gamma rays is their origin. X-rays are produced in the electron shells, while gamma rays are produced in the nucleus. X-rays are created when electrons undergo a deceleration or jump to lower energy levels. Gamma rays are created by energy transitions in the nucleus. In this experiment, we are mostly concerned with gamma rays, because any x-rays present will be shielded by air and matter acting as absorbers. When a beam of gamma rays impinges on a sheet of absorbing material, some of the radiation will be absorbed or scattered22. As the thickness of the absorber is increased, the fraction of the radiation passing through will decrease. When exactly half the radiation passes through the absorber (and the other half is absorbed or scattered), the thickness of the absorber is called the half thickness, X1/2.

Gamma rays interact with matter in three ways: (1) photoelectric effect (ionization), (2) Compton effect, and (3)

pair production (e+e-). Your instructor can explain more.

Data Analysis: Open Microsoft Excel and import your data into it. Plot appropriate graphs for all your data using the trend line option to display equation on chart. Conclusions: From your best fit line equation, find the values for X1/2 and . Make sure your answers are in the appropriate units (involving grams and centimeters). Post-Lab Questions: 1. Is your data linear? If not, why? 2. Looking at your data and equating intensity and counts per minute, does your result for X1/2 a correct approximation? (Does your result match the data?) 3. Can we be completely shielded from gamma rays? If not, then why bother? 4. Comparing your range for alpha particles, the absorption of beta particles, and now the results for gamma rays, why are they different?

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Poiseuilles Law and Fluid Flow

Aim: To study Poiseuilles law. Cardiovascular fluid dynamics is a special branch of physics that uses fluid dynamics concepts and equations to simulate blood flow in aorta, arteries, and veins. Theory: Poiseuilles equation/law is one of those equations that has proven useful in understanding and explaining nature of blood flow, although it does not provide the exact nature of blood flow because of complexities associated with blood flow in aorta, arteries and veins. Blood is mostly a Newtonian fluid but in some situations it behaves as a non Newtonian fluid (viscosity varies with shear rate). Also the flow can be laminar or turbulent. In the case of healthy hearts fluid can be treated as laminar. Poiseuilles law, generally, applies to Newtonian laminar flow through rigid tubes of constant radius. Poiseuilles law/equation can be given by: Flow rate = (PA PB)(/8)(1/)(R4/L); (PA PB) = pressure difference between the ends of a tube of length L, R = radius of the tube, and = viscosity of the fluid. In SI units, the flow rate is in m3/s, (PA PB) is in N m-2 (Pa), is in Pa s, R and L are in m. NOTE: In the medical field; Pressure difference is given in mm of Hg, in poise (P), R and L in mm. 10 poise = 1 Pa s. Procedure: Setup the apparatus as indicated in the figure. The demonstrator may help you. The pressure difference can be varied by changing the water level in the tank. Controlling the over flow and the inlet flow rate shall help to keep the water level at a convenient height. Use of different capillary tubes affixed enables the variation of the diameter. Fluid you are using is water. The viscosity, , of water = 1.14 x 10-3 Pa s; same as 1.14 x 10-2 P. Pressure difference = hg; h = height of water level above a capillary tube, = density of water (1000 kg m-3), g = 9.8 m s-2. Activity: (i) Study the dependence of flow rate with (a) pressure difference,(b) radius. (ii) Based on your results, discuss how the blood flow is affected when plaque builds up in the arteries, and when pressure changes.

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Inlet

Pressure tank

Capillary tube

Over flow

Capillaries (various radii)

Measuring jar

NOTE: Measure the diameter of the tubes using a travelling microscope. The height may be measured
using a ruler. Collect water over a period of a minute or two to get the flow rate from each capillary.

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Modeling of the blood lead levels of Jamaican children using the US EPA Integrated Exposure Uptake Biokinetics model

Aim: To investigate the IEUBK Model and apply in various case studies Introduction: The key problem in environmental health is to identify the potential health hazards to people at the lowest possible cost based upon available environmental data. Biokinetic models such as the Integrated Exposure Uptake Biokinetic (IEUBK) are very promising and have been worldwide used in this respect. The IEUBK - Lead 0.99d model is a primary tool for generation of residential risk-based soil cleanup levels and is used to associate the environmental exposure with risk and policy decisions. The IEUBK Model for Lead in Children is used to predict the risk of elevated blood lead (PbB) levels in children (under the age of seven) that are exposed to environmental lead (Pb) from many sources. The model also predicts the risk (e.g., probability) that a typical child, exposed to specified media Pb concentrations, will have a PbB level greater or equal to the level associated with adverse health effects (10 g/dL). The input parameters of the IEUBK Lead 0.99d are the concentrations of lead in air, soil, dust, water, food, etc , and the output of the model simulations includes predicted distributions of blood lead levels in children. Location Air Soil/Dust Water Food Maternal Site 1 (normal) 0.2 40 4 default 1 Site 2 0.3 850 8 default 14 (contam) Procedure: 1. Case study 1. a. Input data for each parameter from the table below. b. Run the model, record geo-mean and % above 10 in table (page 2) c. Repeat for second case study. 2. Simulation case study 1. a. Halve the first parameter (air) from the given value. b. Run the model, record geo-mean and % above 10 in table (page 2). c. Double the first parameter (air) from the given value. d. Run the model, record geo-mean and % above 10 in table (page 2). e. quadruple the first parameter (air) from the given value. f. Run the model, record geo-mean and % above 10 in table (page 2). g. Restore parameters back to site 1 values. h. Repeat until table is filled. (change soil & dust values simultaneously)

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PHYS3390 Lab 3: Modeling of the blood lead levels Name: ID #: Date/Time: Questions 1. Why is such software useful and important? ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ 2. Why are blood lead levels important? ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ 3. What are 7 parameters that can be modified for a study in this software? ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ 4. Why are soil and dust separate parameters? ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ 5. Enter fill the table below with your results: Study Name Geo-mean Case Study 1 Case Study 2 (reference) Air (x0.5) Air (x2.0) Air (x4.0) Water (x0.5) Water(x2.0) Water(x4.0) Soil (50) Soil/Dust (500) Soil/Dust (1000) Dietary(x0.5) Dietary (x2.0) Dietary (x4.0) % above 10g/dl

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6. Propose 1 clean up strategy (for lead mitigation) for each of the 4 parameters at the site in case study 2. ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ 7. Which modified parameter influenced blood lead level the most? List the parameters in order of decreasing influence. (based your results) ______________________________________________________________________________ 8. What are the limitations of the software? ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ 9. Subsequently, make recommendations for blood lead modeling of Jamaican children. ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ Demonstrators signature: (to verify results)

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Biomechanics in Sports
Aim: To investigate how different body parameters affects performance in sporting events and make recommendations. Description: Sports biomechanics is concerned with the enhancement of understanding and performance in athletic events through modeling, simulation and measurement. Often the goal is the development of methods and systems for providing real time feedback of athlete performance during training. (UC Davis, 2012) Students will select an athletic event at the UWI, Mona Sports day. Then analyse the athletes techniques, and use further research to make recommendation for better performance. Methodology: Identify an athletic sporting event from the following list; Endurance event (e.g. 800m, marathon, etc) Sprint event (e.g. 100m, 200m, hurdles, etc) Throwing event (e.g. Discus, shot put, javelin) Jumping event ( e.g. long jump, high jump)

Create a hypothesis to show improvement in a sporting performance. Design a fitness test and collect data from the athlete. Use the results and compare it with your hypothesis. Then make recommendation to the athlete or coach. Marking scheme: o o o o o Introduction -10% Methodology, Hypothesis, Literature review- 20% Data collection- 20% Discussion- 30% Recommendations, conclusion- 20%

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