Spring 2027

The Physics of Medical Imaging with Ionizing Radiation

Covers physics of medical imaging with ionizing radiation, including x-ray transmission systems (CT, radiography) and emission systems (PET, SPECT), focusing on image performance and radiation safety.

offering recorded4 credits
Recorded instructors · Spring 2027 Michael SpeidelPaul Ellison

Summary

1 / 3

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2024: 3.79 GPA, 94.1% A/AB (n=17 letter grades); Spring 2025: 3.80 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=20 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.83 GPA, 93.3% A/AB (n=15 letter grades).

What you’ll be able to do

  • Identify the physical principles underlying imaging technologies used in radiology and nuclear medicine: radiography, mammography, fluoroscopy, computed tomography (CT), scintigraphy, single-photon emission tomography (SPECT), and positron emission tomography (PET).

  • Describe each imaging modality in terms of a general imaging framework in which (i) a form of energy or probe is introduced to the body, (ii) a clinically interesting signal is generated within the body, and (iii) this signal is detected and spatially localized to form an image.

  • Apply physics and engineering concepts to understand how the design and operation of an imaging system determines the contrast, noise, and spatial resolution of the images produced by the system.

  • Differentiate the characteristics of radiotracers that make them suitable for research and clinical applications in human physiology.

  • Identify the defining strengths and limitations with utilizing the imaging modalities for conducting research investigations of human physiology and disease.

Source: UW Guide 1 UW Guide 2

Grade history

↗
average GPA
letter grades
A
AB
B
BC
C
D
F

All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors

Prerequisites

Course map

PHYSICS/​B M E/​H ONCOL/​MED PHYS 501 and MED PHYS/​B M E 573

BME/MEDPHYS 580 used by

“Used by” includes alternatives; linked courses may have other requirements. This is a best-effort interpretation; check the catalog requirements above.

Prerequisite text tree

Professors

Spring 2027

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2024: 3.79 GPA, 94.1% A/AB (n=17 letter grades); Spring 2025: 3.80 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=20 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.83 GPA, 93.3% A/AB (n=15 letter grades). Includes jointly taught sections.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2024: 3.79 GPA, 94.1% A/AB (n=17 letter grades); Spring 2025: 3.80 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=20 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.83 GPA, 93.3% A/AB (n=15 letter grades). Includes jointly taught sections.

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

MICHAEL SPEIDEL is recorded teaching in Spring 2022, Spring 2023, Spring 2024, Spring 2025, Spring 2026. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

PAUL ELLISON is recorded teaching in Spring 2024, Spring 2025, Spring 2026. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

Calendar & sections

Spring 2027

Schedule loads here as you scroll.

SectionModeEnrolled / capacityWaitlist
LEC 001Classroom Instruction0 / 00
LEC 001Classroom Instruction0 / 280

Times are Central. Select a meeting for details; export includes recorded dates for the selected sections. Enrollment reflects scan time.

Meeting source records
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Student experience

the class

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2024: 3.79 GPA, 94.1% A/AB (n=17 letter grades); Spring 2025: 3.80 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=20 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.83 GPA, 93.3% A/AB (n=15 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

No workload feedback recorded.

Topics

  • X-ray transmission imaging systems such as radiography, mammography, fluoroscopy, and CT.
  • Emission imaging systems including gamma cameras, SPECT, and PET.
  • Image performance metrics including contrast, signal-to-noise ratio, and spatial resolution.
  • Clinical applications and radiation safety.

Skills

  • Identifying physical principles of radiology and nuclear medicine imaging technologies.
  • Applying physics and engineering concepts to analyze imaging system performance metrics like contrast, noise, and spatial resolution.
  • Understanding clinical applications and radiation safety concepts for various imaging systems.

Grades

Latest available · Spring 2026— not enough history to project Spring 2027.

average GPA
A / AB grades
letter grades
Instructor

Grade distribution · % of letter grades

A
AB
B
BC
C
D
F

Grades over time

Through Spring 2026

More grade details Grade mix, volume & source data

Not enough comparable courses for Spring 2027 in UW–Madison.

Sources & history

UW–Madison

Catalog & offerings

Descriptions, prerequisites, and recorded course offerings.

Catalog observation history

Observations at scan time; dates do not imply when a catalog change took effect.

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Selected offering source records
BME/MEDPHYS 580 · Spring 2027

The Physics of Medical Imaging with Ionizing Radiation

Recorded 2026-10-14
BME/MEDPHYS 580 · Spring 2027

The Physics of Medical Imaging with Ionizing Radiation

Recorded 2026-10-14
Raw records 
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Student reviews

Original comments behind the course and instructor summaries.

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Madgrades

Grade history

Recorded grade distributions by term, section, and instructor.

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Dataset & model

Recorded 2026-10-14

View the dataset on Hugging Face
Model outputs & technical records
Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B
LLM outputs across runs
Download part 1
Full model traces

Recorded model configuration, reasoning, and tool conversations.

Download part 1
Model & dataset provenance 
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