COURSE OUTLINE FOR PHYSICS 147C (Course code 47390) Spring 1999

Physics 147C is devoted to three major areas, 1. Biophysics with Light, 2. Thermal Physics and Hydrodynamics with a focus on the circulation and on biological transport phenomena, 3. Bioelectromagnetism including the electrical properties of cell membranes, nerves and muscles. Each of the three parts consists of six lectures and an exam. Because of the constraints of the lecturers' schedules, one of the areas of study will be divided into two parts. The exams will be on May 11 (Biophysics with Light), May 25 (Thermal Physics) and during final exam week (Bioelectromagnetism).

The course meets at 11-12:20 PM Tuesday and Thursday in 4135 Frederick Reines Hall (PS2). The lecturers for this quarter are Bruce Tromberg (Beckmann Laser Institute), Nancy Allbritton (Biophysics and Physiology), Mark Mandelkern (Physics), Joie Jones and Fred Greensite (Radiological Sciences).

The text is Intermediate Physics for Medicine and Biology by Russell K. Hobbie. AIP Press/Springer. Further references and materials will be provided by the lecturers.

Thermal Physics and Biological Transport

Week 1: Hydrostatics and Hydrodynamics-Jones

  • Hydrostatics
  • Steady Flow, Bernoulli's Theorem
  • Viscous Flow in a Tube, Poiseuille Equation, Mach Number
  • Turbulent Flow, Reynolds Number
  • The Human Circulatory System

    Week 2: Equilibrium Thermal Physics-Mandelkern

  • Thermal Equilibrium
  • Microstates, Entropy
  • Temperature, Chemical Potential
  • Boltzmann Factor, Nernst Equation
  • Gibbs Free Energy, Chemical Reactions, Solutions

    Week 3: Transport Phenomena-Mandelkern

  • Stokes Law, Motion in a Liquid
  • Diffusion, Fick's Laws
  • Einstein Relation between Diffusion Coefficient and Viscosity
  • Perfusion, Transport of Solutes to and from Cells
  • Osmotic Pressure
  • Volume and Solute Transport through Membranes
  • Clinical Examples-Capillary Function, Edema, Osmotic Fragility

    References

  • Hobbie -Intermediate Physics for Medicine and Biology
  • Feynman-The Feynman Lectures on Physics, Volume II.

    Biophysics with Light

    Lecture 1: Fundamentals of Light/Matter Interactions -Tromberg

  • Absorption
  • Luminescence
  • Scattering

    Lecture 2: Vision-Allbritton

  • Image formation
  • Visual pigments
  • Photon detection

    Lecture 3: Fundamentals of Instrumentation and Measurements-Tromberg

  • Individual Components:sources, detectors, dispersion
  • Integrated Systems: spectrometers(absorption and emission), microscopes(laser,scanning)

    Lecture 4: Optical Measurements of Molecular Force and Distance-Allbritton

  • Molecular motors
  • Energy transfer

    Lecture 5: Fundamentals of Bulk Tissue Measurements-Tromberg

  • Tissue optics
  • Photon Migration
  • Pulse/modulation techniques

    Lecture 6: Pulse Oximetry-Allbritton

  • Hemoglobin physiology
  • Blood transport
  • Saturation measurements

    Bioelectromagnetic Phenomena-Greensite

    Impulses in Nerve and Muscle Cells

  • Transmembrane potential and charge distribution in resting cells
  • Pump-leak mechanism
  • Capacitance, conductance, resistance of the resting cell
  • Electrically large v. small cells
  • Telegrapher's equation, conduction velocity, electrotonus(passive spread)
  • Voltage clamp experiments, Hodgkin-Huxley model, action potential.
  • Propagating impulse, saltatory conduction
  • Solutions of the Telegrapher's equation
  • Capacitance and dielectric constant for membranes
  • Intercellular transmission
  • Recording transmembrane potential by external means

    Exterior potentials from the electrical activity of cells.

  • Detecting small bioelectric fields
  • Electrodes
  • The heart and electrocardiogram (ECG)
  • The MCG, EEG, MCG, EMG

    Biomagnetism and biological effects

  • Magnetic fields from cells
  • Electrically silent biomagnetic fields
  • Detecting weak biomagnetic fields, the SQUID
  • Brain: relative sensitivity of magnetic vs. electric field measurements
  • Biomagnetic measurements in lung, heart, and liver
  • Electrical Noise
  • Biological effects of DC and powerline fields
  • Thermal v. non-thermal effects, mechanisms
  • Biological effects of non-ionizing radiation (RF/microwave)

    Cellular Electromagnetism

  • Donnan equilibrium
  • Potential gradients and ion concentrations at the cell membrane
  • Ion currents, Nernst-Planck and Goldman equations
  • Membrane channels

    References: Hobbie, Feynman Lectures