Medical and Biological Physics
Applying physics expertise to answer the big questions about life and improve medical technology.
Members: Sarah Bugby, Boris Chesca, Sergey Saveliev, Jenny Spiga
Physical processes govern all aspects of life in the universe, including life itself. This theme is interdisciplinary, physicists within the department collaborate with mathematicians, biologists, chemists, clinicians and more to improve our understanding of the behaviour of living organisms and to improve patient care with novel technologies.
Modelling for medicine and biology
To understand how to control the transport of nanoparticles is critically important for both medical treatment (drug delivery, cancer cell mobility suppression) and modern nano-fluid technology for electronics and other applications. The department has a long-standing expertise in noisy modelling transport at nanoscales for nanoparticles, bacteria and artificial swimmers.
The Department works also on modelling single neural response from Monkey visual cortex. This helps us understand how visual cortex processes visual information and select different stimulus content. This work is performed in collaboration with Salk Institute for Biological Studies. In addition, the department work on modelling brain neural dynamics in collaboration with Loughborough Mathematical Department.
Ultra-sensitive superconducting magnetic sensors
Magnetoencephalography (MEG) is a non-invasive technique used to map electrical signals in the brain for surgical planning or research. The tiny magnetic field produced by these signals is measured with an array of SQUIDs – superconducting quantum interference devices. Conventional SQUIDs must operate at temperatures of 4.2K (cooled with liquid helium) for optimum performance, and this limits the use of MEG to very few specialist centres. By incorporating multiple SQUIDs and flux focusers into a single sensor, we have developed devices which are just as sensitive and have better noise performance but that can be operated at 77K (cooled with liquid nitrogen). These have the potential to bring MEG, and related techniques such as magnetocardiography and low field MRI, into far wider use.
Portable Gamma Imaging for Nuclear Medicine
Nuclear medicine uses radioactive tracers to diagnose and treat disease. For gamma imaging (radioscintigraphy), a tracer that produces gamma radiation is introduced to the body. The tracer is targeted to the process being investigated (radioiodine for thyroid function for example), the gamma radiation passes through the body and is imaged by an external camera. Clinical gamma cameras are large devices, taking up a whole room within a specialist nuclear medicine department. These would be impossible to bring to patient in intensive care or the operating room. We are working with new sensors and detector materials to develop portable gamma imaging that can be brought to the patient’s bedside, or used during surgery to help improve patients’ wellbeing.
Soft Matter Systems
Project members: Marco Mazza, Department of Mathematical Sciences supervises physics student projects.
Using theory and simulations to investigate soft matter systems, he investigates the driving mechanisms of biological systems from bacteria to biofilms.
Credit: G. Schkolnik & M. G. Mazza