An Introduction to the Physics of Nuclear Medicine (Second Edition)

Nuclear medicine is a medical speciality involving the application of radioactive substances in the diagnosis and treatment of disease. Procedures that involve the production and administration of radionuclides to the body for either diagnostic or therapeutic purposes fall under the remit of this field.

This book is a medium revision of the first edition, with each chapter slightly updated and with substantial inclusion of new material related to imaging in nuclear medicine. The course text provides an introduction to key topics in nuclear medicine, from the fundamental principles of radioactivity through to the production and use of radionuclides for diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. The book lays the foundations for readers to appreciate how the principles of radiation physics are applied and to test their understanding by answering set problems. New to the second edition is a chapter on the use of Monte Carlo methods in nuclear medicine, new sections on machine learning and intraoperative nuclear probes and recent updates about novel radiopharmaceutical production. The book can be used as an informative supplement in general physics undergraduate programmes and postgraduate level medical physics.

Auteur

Laura Harkness-Brennan is Associate Pro Vice Chancellor for Research and Impact in the Faculty of Science and Engineering at the University of Liverpool. For 3 years, Professor Harkness-Brennan has been leading a national STFC funded Cancer Diagnosis Research Network, promoting the formation of interdisciplinary teams to address key challenges in cancer diagnosis. In 2010 she won the Shell and Institute of Physics Award for the Very Early Career Woman physicist of the year, and in 2015 was highly commended in the UK Women of the Future awards (Science category).