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MEDS12001 - Physics of Ultrasound

General Information

Unit Synopsis

You will be introduced to the principles of ultrasound physics and instrumentation in this unit.Ultrasound safety, quality assurance and recognition of artifacts will also be covered. The knowledge and skills learnt from this unit are integral to all concurrent and subsequent sonography and echocardiography units and forms the foundation from which you will build your image acquisition, recognition and assessment skills. You will apply your knowledge and skills of physics principles in the laboratory setting using ultrasound equipment.

Details

Level Undergraduate
Unit Level 2
Credit Points 6
Student Contribution Band SCA Band 2
Fraction of Full-Time Student Load 0.125
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites

Prerequisite

MEDI11002 Physics for Health Sciences

AND

(MEDS11001 Fundamentals of Sonographic Practice

OR

ECHO11002 Cardiac Structure and Function



Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework).

Class Timetable View Unit Timetable
Residential School No Residential School

Unit Availabilities from Term 2 - 2019

Term 1 - 2020 Profile
Brisbane
Mackay
Melbourne
Perth
Sydney
Term 1 - 2021 Profile
Brisbane
Mackay
Melbourne
Perth
Sydney
Term 1 - 2022 Profile
Brisbane
Mackay
Melbourne
Perth
Sydney
Term 1 - 2023 Profile
Brisbane
Mackay
Melbourne
Perth
Sydney
Term 1 - 2024 Profile
Brisbane
Mackay
Melbourne
Sydney
Term 1 - 2025 Profile
Brisbane
Mackay
Melbourne
Sydney

Attendance Requirements

All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes - in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).

Assessment Overview

Recommended Student Time Commitment

Each 6-credit Undergraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 12.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 150 hours for the unit.

Assessment Tasks

Assessment Task Weighting
1. Online Test 40%
2. Practical Assessment 0%
3. Examination 60%

This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of ‘pass’ in order to pass the unit. If any ‘pass/fail’ tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully (‘pass’ grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the ‘assessment task’ section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%).

Consult the University's Grades and Results Policy for more details of interim results and final grades

Past Exams

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Previous Feedback

Term 1 - 2024 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 53.33% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 23.44% response rate.

Feedback, Recommendations and Responses

Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.

Source: SUTE Teacher Evaluations
Feedback
Some students found that it was difficult to remain engaged during tutorials, as Physics is quite dense.
Recommendation
Construct online quizzes such as Kahoot during tutorials to encourage interaction and engagement.
Action Taken
Kahoot online quizzes were used during tutorials. This proved very popular with the students and was successful in improving student attendance and engagement.
Source: MEDS12001 Q&A forum
Feedback
Some of the older lectures have poor audio quality and are blurry when using different platforms.
Recommendation
Replace older lectures as the audio tends to distort when the volume is too high.
Action Taken
All of the older lectures have been replaced. The new lectures are more succinct and engaging and are recorded with optimum audiovisual quality.
Source: MEDS12001 Q&A forum
Feedback
The final Lab session is too rushed.
Recommendation
Some content from Lab 3 can be transferred to Lab 2.
Action Taken
Transfer of content from Lab 3 to Lab 2 was not possible as time did not allow delivery of Lab 3 concepts prior to Lab 2. Lab 3 questions were pared down in 2024 and the session was less rushed.
Source: SUTE Teacher Evaluations
Feedback
Students reported issues with the time limit and certain question types not functioning as expected on specific electronic devices in the redesigned Assessment 1.
Recommendation
Reconsider number of questions from a timing perspective. Limit question sub-parts and drag and drop style questions as these may be unreliable on some electronic devices, such as tablets, further exacerbating the time limit concerns.
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: SUTE Teacher Evaluations
Feedback
Students found the Kahoot interactive platform used during tutorials to be effective for both engagement and retaining knowledge.
Recommendation
The Kahoot tutorials should continue next year, with an increase in interactive content during tutorials.
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: MEDS12001 Q&A forum
Feedback
Practice questions and quizzes in a similar format to the assessments would be useful.
Recommendation
Consider developing more practice quizzes and questions in the same format as the online assessments.
Action Taken
In Progress
Unit learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

  1. Apply the physical principles of diagnostic ultrasound to practical problems
  2. Evaluate the components and performance of diagnostic ultrasound equipment
  3. Apply knowledge of ultrasound physics and practical skills to acquire optimal ultrasound images, with due regard of safe practices
  4. Discuss the principles of ultrasound techniques, Doppler ultrasound and its application in medical ultrasound including safety issues
  5. Interpret the causes of, and apply problem solving skills to reduce, sources of artifacts on an ultrasound image.

This unit will be one of the core units in the Medical Sonography Course which is externally accredited by the Australian Sonographers Accreditation Registry (ASAR), an external professional regulatory body. Intended learning outcomes have been linked to:

ASAR Required Graduate Competency Outcomes for General Sonography Accreditation Standards 1.2,

Deliver safe, patient centred services- 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7

Practice within professional and ethical frameworks- 2, 6 and 7

Contribute to workplace health and safety and quality assurance- 2, and 7

Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
Assessment Tasks Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4 5
1 - Online Test • •
2 - Practical Assessment • • • •
3 - Examination • •
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
• Introductory Level
• Intermediate Level
• Graduate Level
Graduate Attributes Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4 5
1 - Communication • • • • •
2 - Problem Solving • • • • •
3 - Critical Thinking • • • • •
6 - Information Technology Competence • • • • •
8 - Ethical practice •
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Graduate Attributes
• Introductory Level
• Intermediate Level
• Graduate Level
Assessment Tasks Graduate Attributes
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
1 - Online Test • • • • •
2 - Practical Assessment • • • • •
3 - Examination • • • •