Definitions

§ 8701. Definitions. As used in this article:

1. "Clinical" shall mean activities directly relating to the treatment or diagnosis of human ailments.

2. "Specialty" or "specialty area" shall mean the following branch or branches of special competence within medical physics:

(a) "Diagnostic radiological physics" shall mean the branch of medical physics relating to the diagnostic application of radiation, the analysis and interpretation of image quality, performance measurements and the calibration of equipment associated with the production and use of such radiation, the analysis and interpretation of measurements associated with patient doses and exposures, and the radiation safety aspects associated with the production and use of such radiation;

(b) "Medical health physics" shall mean the branch of medical physics pertaining to the radiation safety aspects of the use of radiation for both diagnostic and therapeutic purposes, and the use of equipment to perform appropriate radiation measurements;

(c) "Medical nuclear physics" shall mean the branch of medical physics pertaining to the therapeutic and diagnostic application of radionuclides, excluding those used in sealed sources for therapeutic purposes, the analysis and interpretation of performance measurements associated with radiation imaging equipment and performance oversight of radionuclide calibration equipment associated with the use and production of radionuclides, the analysis and interpretation of measurements and calculations associated with patient organ doses, and the radiation safety aspects associated with the production and use of such radionuclides; and

(d) "Therapeutic radiological physics" or "radiation oncology physics" shall mean the branch of medical physics relating to the therapeutic application of radiation, the analysis and interpretation of radiation equipment performance measurements and the calibration of equipment associated with the production and use of such radiation, the analysis and interpretation of measurements associated with patient doses, and the radiation safety aspects associated with the production and use of such radiation.

3. "Medical physics" shall mean the branch of physics limited to the field of radiological physics.

4. "Radiation" shall mean all ionizing radiation above background levels or any non-ionizing radiation used in diagnostic imaging or in radiation oncology.

5. "Radiological physics" shall mean diagnostic radiological physics, therapeutic radiological physics or radiation oncology physics, medical nuclear physics and medical health physics.

6. "Radiological procedure" shall mean any test, measurement, calculation or radiation exposure for the purpose of diagnosis or treatment of any medical condition of a human, including therapeutic radiation, diagnostic imaging and measurements, and nuclear medicine procedures.