Imaging Physics Group
The Imaging Physics Group supports a wide range of imaging modalities across the institution. In addition to assuring regulatory compliance of all imaging equipment, they play a vital role in getting national accreditations for the department’s imaging equipment. The group uses three pillars in their practice: clinical service, education and clinical research.
As an example of clinical service, they have established a holistic approach in the integration of CT protocol and dose management. This includes the development of software for protocol review across different scanner models, as well as an iterative dose and protocol tuning process following ALARA principles.
In research and innovation, focus is on the domains that directly impact clinical practice. This includes dose optimization projects for mammography and abdomen-pelvis CT. Recently, this effort extended to coronary artery calcium score studies at standard and lower kVps. Meanwhile, the team has established a model to determine the dose in tube current modulation that prospectively involves iterative reconstructions.
Meet Our Physicists
Chief Medical Physicist
Department of Imaging
Dr. Zhou is an associate professor and the chief medical physicist in the Department of Imaging. He received a PhD in radiological sciences from the University of California, Irvine (UCI). He worked in research and development of computerized tomography before joining Cedars-Sinai in 2003 as a diagnostic imaging physicist. Dr. Zhou is board-certified in diagnostic radiological physics by the American Board of Radiology.
Specialty: Diagnostic Imaging Physics
Clinical Areas:
- CT: Physics approach to dose reduction and image optimization
- Fluoroscopy/Angiography
- Mammography
- Digital radiography
- Nuclear medicine
Education: PhD, University of California, Irvine
Languages Spoken: English, Chinese
Diagnostic Imaging Physicist
Nuclear Imaging Physicist
Dr. Scott received a PhD in high-energy physics from the University of Minnesota. He continued as a postdoc before joining a residency program at the University of Alabama at Birmingham in diagnostic imaging physics. Dr. Scott joined Cedars-Sinai as a diagnostic imaging physicist in 2010. Dr. Scott is board-certified in diagnostic imaging physics by the American Board of Radiology and in nuclear medicine physics by the American Board of Science in Nuclear Medicine (ABSNM).
Specialty: Diagnostic Imaging Physics and Nuclear Medicine Physics
Clinical Areas:
- Radiography
- Fluoroscopy
- Computerized tomography (CT)
- Mammography
- Nuclear medicine
Education: PhD, University of Minnesota
Languages Spoken: English
Dr. Alok Shankar earned his PhD and MS in medical physics from the University at Buffalo, SUNY. He later graduated from residency in diagnostic imaging and nuclear medicine physics at the University of Florida. Dr. Shankar joined Cedars-Sinai as a diagnostic imaging physicist in 2022. Dr. Shankar is board-certified in diagnostic imaging physics by the American Board of Radiology.
Specialty: Diagnostic Imaging Physics and Nuclear Medicine Physics
Clinical Areas:
- Radiography
- Fluoroscopy
- Computerized tomography (CT)
- Nuclear medicine
- Ultrasound
Education: PhD, State University of New York at Buffalo
Language Spoken: English
Dr. Binesh received his PhD in physics from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India in 1997. He has completed two postdoctoral fellowships at the University of North Carolina and UCLA, where he has worked on MR pulse sequence development. He joined the Department of Imaging at Cedars-Sinai in 2005 as an MRI physicist and has been here ever since. His duties include scanner quality control and certification, protocols optimization, supervision of non-routine scans and training of techs and residents. He is the MR safety expert and is in charge of MR safety training of all the hospital staff. Dr. Binesh is also a research liaison for all physicians who are conducting research studies involving MRI. He has been working with radiologists in developing and executing MR research projects. He is also a part-time faculty member at California State University, Northridge (CSUN).
Clinical Areas:
- Brain perfusion
- DTI and fiber tracking
- Spectroscopy
- Functional MRI
- Quality check and accreditation
Dr. Chao Guo received a PhD in medical physics from the State University of New York at Buffalo. He completed the diagnostic imaging physics residency program at the University of Chicago. Dr. Guo joined Cedars-Sinai in 2022 as a diagnostic imaging physicist.
Specialty: Diagnostic Imaging Physics
Clinical Areas:
- Radiography
- Fluoroscopy
- Computerized tomography (CT)
- Mammography
- Nuclear medicine
Education: PhD, State University of New York at Buffalo, 2020
Languages Spoken: English, Chinese
Emi earned her bachelor of arts degree in physics from Whittier College in 2019, where she participated in nuclear and medical physics research. She worked as a radiation safety specialist prior to joining Cedars-Sinai in 2020. Emi currently develops software solutions which automate quality control activities and monitor regulatory testing data for fluoroscopy, CT and MRI. Emi also performs physics testing on radiography and fluoroscopy units and supports the medical physicists with research data analysis.
Christina earned her bachelor of science degree in radiologic technology and holds ARRT (American Registry of Radiologic Technologists) credentials in radiography, mammography and quality management. She previously worked as a mammography technologist, where she also performed MQSA quality control activities. Christina currently supports the medical physicists with advanced testing in CT, mammography, cath lab and interventional. She performs physics testing on radiography and fluoroscopy units, assists with research projects, maintains certification of machines and monitors regulatory testing data.
Recent Publications
- Zhou Y. Dose and blending fraction quantification for adaptive statistical iterative reconstruction based on low contrast detectability in abdomen CT. J. Appl. Clin. Med. Phys. 2020, 21(1): 1-8.
- Scott II A, Zhou Y, Zhang D, Binesh N, Lee C, Bosteder M. Dose reduction in digital radiography based on the significance of marginal contrast detectability. J. Appl. Clin. Med. Phys. 2021, March, 1-11.
- Zhang D, Scott II A, Lee C, Gellada N, Hyun M, Zhou Y. Coronary artery calcium scoring at lower tube voltages–a new approach to dose reduction and scoring mechanism. European J. Radiology, 2021, 139.
- Lin P, Goode A., Corwin F., Fisher, R, Balter S, Wunderle K, Schueler B, Kim DS, Zhang J, Zhou Y, et. al. AAPM Task Group No. 272: Comprehensive Acceptance Testing and Evaluation of Fluoroscopy Imaging Systems. Med. Phys. 1, 2022, 1-49