On Monday 19 May, Lower VI Physics students travelled down the road to the radiotherapy centre of Royal Berkshire Hospital. We were given a tour by a group of Medical Physicists to examine and learn about various technologies and the Physics behind a variety of medical scans and procedures.
One of the rooms we visited featured a CT, or CAT, scanner where one of the medical physicists took us through the importance of immobilisation and showed us how different scans can be layered to form both 2D and 3D detailed images. We were shown its use in both diagnostics and the treatment planning processes.
Next we investigated the process of ultrasound and even conducted an ultrasound scan on one of our hands! We saw how the doppler setting on the machine lit up blood movement through our blood vessels and how “doppler shift” is used to determine whether the blood is moving away or towards the machine. We also were taught the importance of safety when operating in a radiotherapy centre and were shown the dosemetres on the badges that all of the doctors and physicists have to wear.
Additionally, we were introduced to the radiotherapy rooms where X-rays are used to treat cancer. Complex and revolutionary machines called Linear Accelerators (Linacs) are used for External Beam Therapy or Teletherapy Treatments. The Linacs produce high energy X rays and deliver a dose of radiation targeted to the tumour needing treatment. We were privileged enough to take a look behind the machine where there was no casing to see how the machines work. The back of the Linac had a similar structure to the small particle accelerators we saw at CERN earlier on in the year and we were also lucky enough to see it spin. It was an astonishing piece of technology with an overall cost of between 2-4 million pounds to buy and maintain.
Being able to see these machines in person, witness the mechanics behind them and learn about how they work and contribute towards saving lives was an eye opening experience. For further enrichment one of Royal Berkshire’s medical physicists also took us through the process of becoming a medical physicist and provided us with an insider’s perspective on their life changing work.
Overall, we are grateful for the opportunity to have visited Royal Berkshire’s radiotherapy department and to have seen the Physics in our A level course at work and impacting people’s lives. It was a truly inspirational experience and has opened many of our eyes to potential career paths for the future.
Sukhmani, Lower VI
