X-ray and CT attenuation physics, ultrasound pulse-echo imaging and piezoelectric transduction, and MRI proton relaxation and T1/T2 contrast.
Every X-ray-based modality, from a chest radiograph to a full CT reconstruction, depends on the same exponential Beer-Lambert attenuation law and the same two dominant interaction mechanisms — the photoelectric effect and Compton scattering — and this module builds that physics before covering ultrasound's pulse-echo imaging, where a piezoelectric transducer both emits and receives acoustic pulses and image depth is derived directly from echo return time.
It then covers MRI's fundamentally different physical basis — nuclear precession of hydrogen protons in a strong static field, and the T1 and T2 relaxation time differences between tissues that generate contrast without ionizing radiation — and closes by comparing the three modalities on spatial resolution, contrast mechanism, and radiation exposure, framing imaging equipment as a managed clinical asset that ties forward into Module 17's hospital equipment management coverage.