TY - JOUR

T1 - X-ray imaging virtual online laboratory for engineering undergraduates

AU - Corbi, Alberto

AU - Burgos, Daniel

AU - Vidal, Franck

AU - Albiol, F

AU - Albiol, A

N1 - Focus on Medical Physics: https://iopscience.iop.org/journal/0031-9120/page/Focus-on-Medical-Physics

PY - 2019/12/2

Y1 - 2019/12/2

N2 - Distant-learning engineering students (as well as those in face-to-face settings)should acquire a basic background in radiation-matter interaction physics (usuallyin the firsts semesters). Some members of this category of scholars may feel somedegree of aversion towards these types of pure sciences-related subjects (math,physics, chemistry, etc.). In online learning scenarios, the average student isalready an adult (37 years old or above) and sees no special application of theaforementioned courses in his/her current or future professional life. Besides,online institutions tend to lean too much on applet-based simulations. Theseanimated and interactive examples, although might shed some light on the theoryassociated to the studied physical processes, they also seem stripped down versionsof the real events and are felt as disconnected from current scientific environmentsand engineering settings. For this reason, we describe a novel virtual labapproach to teach the basics of the low-energy interactions present in averageX-ray settings. It combines real scientific simulation frameworks with moderncomputing techniques such as virtualization, cloud infrastructures, containers,networking and shared collaboration environments. It also fosters the use ofhugely demanded development tools and programming languages and addressesthe fundamentals of digital radiography and the linked electronic standards forimage storage and transmission. With this mixed approach that blends scientificconcepts, healthcare and state-of-the-art software solutions, our virtual labs haveproven (over a period of 5 academic terms) to be very pedagogic and attractive(technically- and scientifically-wise) to online engineering undergraduates. Forthe sake of completeness, we also propose a hands-on activity that mimics thegeometrical peculiarities of X-ray rooms with the help of visible light and cheapmaterials.

AB - Distant-learning engineering students (as well as those in face-to-face settings)should acquire a basic background in radiation-matter interaction physics (usuallyin the firsts semesters). Some members of this category of scholars may feel somedegree of aversion towards these types of pure sciences-related subjects (math,physics, chemistry, etc.). In online learning scenarios, the average student isalready an adult (37 years old or above) and sees no special application of theaforementioned courses in his/her current or future professional life. Besides,online institutions tend to lean too much on applet-based simulations. Theseanimated and interactive examples, although might shed some light on the theoryassociated to the studied physical processes, they also seem stripped down versionsof the real events and are felt as disconnected from current scientific environmentsand engineering settings. For this reason, we describe a novel virtual labapproach to teach the basics of the low-energy interactions present in averageX-ray settings. It combines real scientific simulation frameworks with moderncomputing techniques such as virtualization, cloud infrastructures, containers,networking and shared collaboration environments. It also fosters the use ofhugely demanded development tools and programming languages and addressesthe fundamentals of digital radiography and the linked electronic standards forimage storage and transmission. With this mixed approach that blends scientificconcepts, healthcare and state-of-the-art software solutions, our virtual labs haveproven (over a period of 5 academic terms) to be very pedagogic and attractive(technically- and scientifically-wise) to online engineering undergraduates. Forthe sake of completeness, we also propose a hands-on activity that mimics thegeometrical peculiarities of X-ray rooms with the help of visible light and cheapmaterials.

KW - X-ray physics

KW - virtual laboratory

KW - online learning

KW - digital standards

KW - collaborative environments

KW - cloud technologies

KW - containers

U2 - 10.1088/1361-6404/ab5011

DO - 10.1088/1361-6404/ab5011

M3 - Article

VL - 41

JO - European Journal of Physics

JF - European Journal of Physics

SN - 0143-0807

IS - 1

ER -