Radiation and Us: Visualising the Invisible

辐射与我们：可视化不可见的事物

• 批准号: EP/F06652X/1
• 负责人: Fred Currell
• 金额: $ 12.38万
• 依托单位: Queen's University Belfast
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2008
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2008 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=EP%2FF06652X%2F1
• 关键词: Radiation; Us; Visualising; Invisible

In this project 'Radiation and Us: Making the Invisible Visible' we will develop interactive exhibits and shows to be situated in Northern Ireland's premier interactive science centre, W5. This will be done through a partnership of researchers into the medical uses of radiation from Queen's University and science communications experts from W5. The title of the project has a double meaning: radiation is often used to make visible of our insides which would otherwise remain invisible. Additionally, in this project, through the interactive simulations we will make the detailed behaviour of the invisible radiation visible to all.People generally have a negative view of radiation, considering it to be a mysterious entity. It is usually associated with negative things like bodily harm, destruction, danger and nuclear war. These negative associations can be a barrier to people's understanding and learning. However radiation has many interesting and positive uses including medical applications.Radiation is invaluable for medical diagnosis techniques ranging from the X-rays we all know from the dentist to more sophisticated ways of making three dimensional images of the insides of our bodies. Radiation is also invaluable in the treatment of cancer, being the second most common form of therapy after surgery. By illustrating the science behind these positive uses of radiation we hope to engage the audience and encourage some of the pupils to study the relevant sciences further.Because of radiation's invisibility and the safety concerns associated with it, it is not possible for school pupils or members of the general public to learn by doing activities involving radiation directly. However researchers into its medical uses have sophisticated computer simulations which show how the radiation travels through our bodies either for making X-ray images or for the treatment of cancer.We will use some of these simulations to develop an interactive exhibit to be situated in Northern Ireland's premier interactive science centre, W5 supported by shows covering the same topic. The interactive simulations will also be distributed using the World Wide Web and CD ROMs.These simulations will be designed to have an educational benefit for pupils from 12 years upwards but also to be of interest to the general public. They will present the user with challenges such as making a radiotherapy plan, avoiding a patient's sensitive organs with the radiation while getting enough of it into the patient's tumour. Radiation tracks will be displayed to demonstrate the science of radiation as well as its medical applications. The user will be presented with a scientifically accurate view of the creation and stopping of some of the X-rays and particles as it would occur inside a patient's body. This will take the form of an ever-changing animated display of the tracks created by the particles. The users will be able to interact with the simulations by sending in radiation from different directions and see how the X-rays and particles interact differently with different parts of the body. For example the bones stop more of the X-rays as we all know from X-ray photographs but in these simulations we can all see it happening before our eyes, making the behaviour of the invisible radiation visible.

在这个名为“辐射与我们：使无形可见”的项目中，我们将在北爱尔兰首屈一指的互动科学中心W5开发互动展览和表演。这项工作将通过皇后大学研究辐射医疗用途的研究人员和W5的科学传播专家的合作来完成。这个项目的标题有双重含义：辐射经常被用来使我们的内部变得可见，否则我们就看不见。此外，在这个项目中，通过交互模拟，我们将使不可见辐射的详细行为对所有人可见。人们通常对辐射有负面看法，认为它是一种神秘的实体。它通常与负面的事情联系在一起，比如身体伤害、破坏、危险和核战争。这些负面的联想可能成为人们理解和学习的障碍。然而，辐射有许多有趣和积极的用途，包括医疗应用。辐射对于医学诊断技术来说是无价的，从我们从牙医那里都知道的x射线到制作我们身体内部三维图像的更复杂的方法。放射治疗在癌症治疗中也是无价之宝，是仅次于手术的第二大常见治疗形式。通过说明辐射的这些积极用途背后的科学，我们希望吸引观众，并鼓励一些学生进一步学习相关科学。由于辐射的不可见性和与之相关的安全问题，小学生或普通公众不可能通过直接进行涉及辐射的活动来学习。然而，研究其医学用途的研究人员有复杂的计算机模拟，可以显示辐射如何通过我们的身体来制作x射线图像或治疗癌症。我们将利用其中一些模拟来开发一个互动展览，该展览将设在北爱尔兰首屈一指的互动科学中心W5，由涵盖同一主题的展览提供支持。交互式模拟也将通过万维网和CD rom进行分发。这些模拟将被设计为对12岁以上的学生有教育效益，但也会引起公众的兴趣。它们会给使用者带来一些挑战，比如制定一个放疗计划，避免病人的敏感器官受到辐射，同时让足够的辐射进入病人的肿瘤。将展示辐射轨道，以展示辐射科学及其医学应用。用户将获得一个科学准确的视图，显示一些x射线和粒子在患者体内产生和停止的过程。这将以不断变化的动画显示的形式显示由粒子产生的轨迹。用户将能够通过从不同方向发射辐射来与模拟互动，并观察x射线和粒子如何与身体不同部位发生不同的相互作用。例如，我们都从x射线照片中知道，骨骼会阻挡更多的x射线，但在这些模拟中，我们都能看到它在我们眼前发生，使不可见的辐射的行为可见。