7 November 2014
Medical physicists from Sheffield Teaching Hospitals are highlighting the crucial role they play in patient care to mark International Day of Medical Physics (Friday 7 November).
THE USE of X-rays for both the diagnosis and treatment of disease including cancer is commonplace, but the central role medical physicists play – in calibrating the equipment accurately, planning individual treatments, ensuring the dose received is safe, and in developing new techniques – is not widely recognised. Yet it plays a crucial role in patient care.
Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust employs around 160 healthcare science staff within its Medical Physics and Clinical Engineering Department and also its Radiotherapy Physics Department.
The teams use their knowledge of physical sciences and engineering to deliver better outcomes for patients, to streamline patient pathways and where appropriate reduce the length of stay in hospital. They apply their knowledge to the development and quality assurance of many diagnostic tests and treatment techniques and associated medical equipment which is widely used in hospitals in Sheffield and beyond.
Lee Walton, a consultant clinical scientist, said: “We’re one of the biggest NHS Foundation Trusts in the country, with a large team of scientific staff but since our work is often behind the scenes, our contributions to patient safety and treatment often go unseen. Over the years, we’ve developed a number of techniques which are used and contribute to safer management of patients both within our Trust and beyond.”
Medical physics and clinical engineering staff are highly qualified individuals, who apply their physics and engineering skills to many different aspects of healthcare. Their work extends beyond the X-ray field and includes diverse tasks such as: quality assuring ultrasound equipment, developing new medical technologies to address clinical needs, ensuring optimal imaging quality is provided in magnetic resonance imaging scans, and bespoke hearing assessment and management for adults with impaired hearing via technical devices.
Their contribution may be in the design of bespoke surgical instruments, in the development of surgical waste systems, in applying computer solutions to clinical problems , in the use of sophisticated mathematical techniques to improve image quality, or in the design and use miniaturised electronics for non-invasive cancer diagnosis, for example in cervical cancer.
Over many years our teams have been recognised for their innovation: our scientific computing team are currently finalists in the Health Service Journal Awards (Improving Care with Technology category) for their innovative Electronic Check-in and Process Workflow system for outpatient clinics. They are also partners in a major project to identify the lifestyle and environmental factors that predispose individuals to the development of dementia (http://www.vph-dare.eu/index.php/project).
Two members of our radiotherapy physics team won IPEM awards for their work on effective methods for the delivery of radiotherapy for breast cancer.
Our imaging teams have also reached the finals of the Medipex Innovation awards, in 2014 with their development of a new system for the diagnosis of bile acid malabsorption, and in 2013 with the 3DLab in which they use systematic methods of data processing to extract detailed information from images which can help to predict the outcome of heart disease or assist in monitoring tumour growth – a unique service in the UK.
The department, which maintains close links with the University of Sheffield’s Medical Physics Group, is heavily involved in research, too. Researchers from the department are currently at the helm of an European-wide initiative which is using in silico medicine, or computer stimulated technology to understand how disease processes work.
The department is also home to the nationally acclaimed ‘Devices for Dignity’ Healthcare Technology Co-operative, which brings the NHS, industry and universities together to work with patients as partners to develop technologies which help to improve dignity and independence for people living with long-term conditions (www.devicesfordignity.org.uk).
The Department of Medical Physics and Clinical Engineering is led by Scientific Director, Professor Wendy B Tindale OBE. In addition to her primary NHS role, she holds a Chair at the University of Sheffield and has a national role as Clinical Director of the ‘Devices for Dignity’ Healthcare Technology Co-operative.
She has an interest in combining clinical academic excellence with business opportunities through commercial translation of innovative medical technologies and has worked with both public and private sectors to facilitate successful collaborations. She was honoured with an OBE for Services to Healthcare in the 2014 New Year’s Honours list.
The second International Day of Medical Physics, an initiative from the International Organisation for Medical Physics, will be held on Friday 7 November. The event is held in honour of Marie Sklodowska-Curie, who was born on that day in 1867, and was one of the first woman scientists to win worldwide fame for her pioneering research on radioactivity.
The theme of International Day of Medical Physics 2014 is ‘Looking into the Body: Advancement in Imaging through Medical Physics’.
ENDS
Photo: Jonathan Taylor (Clinical Scientist in Nuclear Medicine) with Emily Perry (Trainee Clinical Technologist in Radiation Protection) demonstrating the use of radiation monitors.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Claudia Blake, Communications Specialist
Tel: 0114 226 5033
Email: claudia.blake@sth.nhs.uk