Section code:	F
	Coordinator:	Rajiv Chopra
	Telephone:	416-480-6084
	Email:
	Faculty:	Lothar Lilge ( ) Kristy Brock (.)
	Instructors	Lothar Lilge, Rajiv Chopra and Kristy Brock
	Date/Time:	Tuesdays, 1:30 - 3:30 pm
	Location:	Room S-615, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre
	Course Length:	September 8 - December 15, 2010

The wide variety of diagnostic and therapeutic applications of optical, thermal, and radiation biophysics in today's medical practice are discussed in this course. The physical and biophysical interaction mechanisms between the energy sources and tissue are emphasized. Fundamentals of optical, thermal, and radiation dosimetry are covered, with reference to the relevant tissue properties, the models of energy propagation within tissues, experimental techniques for dosimetry measurements, and the resulting biological effects. This sets the stage for discussing selected clinical and investigational uses of light, heat, x-rays, and ultrasound. Examples include radiation therapy, x-ray and optical mammography, fluorescence imaging and spectroscopy, optical coherence tomography, photodynamic therapy, biological confocal microscopy, ultrasound-induced thermal therapies, and Raman spectroscopy.

The course comprises 3 segments:"Thermal Biophysics" presented by Dr. Chopra from September 16th, 2010 until October 12th 2010, "Radiation Biophysics" presented by Dr. Brock from October 19th 2010 to November 16th 2010, and "Biophotonics" presented by Dr. Lilge from November 23rd 2010 until December 15th 2010. Lab tours will be provided for each segment, based on student interest and availability. The handouts will be placed on the course website at weeks end prior to each lecture and it is the obligation of each student to download the material if handouts are desired. Despite handouts being available attendance is mandatory for this course, and can be checked randomly.

Course evaluation and grades are based on 2 components: in-class presentations (1) and a final essay on a selected topic that falls within one of the course themes. Neither the presentations or the essay can be related to the MSc or PhD thesis of the student and have to come from different segments of the course.

In-class Presentations: Each student will 'teach' a subtopic within one course theme in the form of a 10 minute presentation. The philosophy behind this assignment is that peer-to-peer teaching is often more effective at communicating concepts than traditional instructor-student approaches. The subtopics will be chosen from a list of questions provided by the course instructors, which will be made available prior to the start of the course. It is the responsibility of the students to research the topics and prepare a mini-lecture whose goal is to explain the topics and field questions. Evaluation will be by instructors and the students in the class, will constitute 30% of the final course mark.

Final Essay: The final project comprises a 5000 word written essay on a topic related to one of the three sections taught in the course. The goal of this assignment is to offer students a chance to dig deeper into a topic of interest from the course, and to provide practice in writing a critical scientific review paper. The topic can be chosen by each student, but will need to be confirmed by the instructor who presented the relevant section. An outline must be handed in mid-way through the course after the selection of an appropriate topic, and the final essay will be due before the last lecture of the course. The final essay is valued at 70% of the total mark.

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