Newsletter
A MERIC A N ASSOCIATION OF PHY SICISTS IN ME DI CI NE VOLUME 33 NO. 3
MAY/JUNE 2008
AAPM President’s Column
Gerald A. White Colorado Springs, CO
P
hysics giveth and Physics taketh away and Physics giveth and Physics taketh away. Reflecting on the efforts of physicists over the last 100 years in applying ionizing radiation to diagnosis and therapy of disease, this pattern seems to have been with us from the beginning. The discovery of electrically produced x-rays and emanations from naturally occurring unstable elements set us on this oscillating road. Deposit energy differentially in tissue and images of bones, rings and bullets appear… malignant tissue dies, all advances but not without a cost. There were efforts to increase the dose available for medical uses (higher specific activities, heated cathodes, rotating anodes) and then efforts to reduce the dose necessary to achieve the desired benefit and increase the efficiency of the collection of information or therapeutic effect. (Intensifying screens, collimated beams, higher energy photons,
electron beams, image intensifiers, then rare earth screens, high quality mammography, beam modeling and CT based isodose calculations.) The window of opportunity for self-congratulatory thoughts on dose reduction was short lived, however. Invasive imaging procedures with high power capacity x-ray tubes and high dose tolerant image receptors, multi-slice CT systems with even higher power x-ray tubes, precision therapeutic delivery systems (3D CRT, IMRT, HDR) with the ability to spare normal tissue have all raised the dose ante yet again. We find ourselves with the opportunity to be in the lead as medicine engages what seems is a Sisyphean task to gain ever more benefit from the deposition of energy in tissue while doing minimal harm. We find ourselves on both sides of the rock and yet, I believe, when we look around we don’t see Hades, we don’t feel punished, we are enthused, we are, if I can be forgiven for the choice of words, energized. Yesterday I returned from a Friday and Saturday of AAPM meetings in Chicago -- Executive Committee, Council Chairs and Board of Directors. There was a level of enthusiasm and energy there also, a level that I would describe as comforting. We talked and argued, grimaced and laughed, focused and wandered – not so much about the science and technology of the rock described above but rather about
the handgrips, greasing the skids, who pushes where and how hard, how big is the rock, and how big is the hill. It was an interesting mix of back office infrastructure discussion and long-term direction setting. How will the AAPM participate more fully in national and international activities that set the standards for the equipment and processes we use? IHE, DICOM, IEC, ANSI, acronyms for organizations with a significant influence on us and our work; soon, we hope to have an even more robust AAPM organizational connection. The 2012 initiative response begins to take shape amidst both optimism and anxiety (two emotions that together can give rise to rapid change). The influence of (see White p. - 2) TABLE OF CONTENTS Chair of the Board’s Column President-Elect’s Column Executive Director’s Column 50th Anniversary update Editor’s Column Education Council Report Physics Education Taskforce Professional Council Report Science Council News Awards & Honors Leg. & Reg. Affairs Health Policy/Economics Chapter News Person in the News Website Editor’s Report Workgroup on Clinical Trials Ethics’ Committee Update Growing ROSIS
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