title: Brief histories of medical physics in Asia-Oceania.
abstract: The history of medical physics in Asia-Oceania goes back to the late nineteenth century when X-ray imaging was introduced, although medical physicists were not appointed until much later. Medical physics developed very quickly in some countries, but in others the socio-economic situation as such prevented it being established for many years. In others, the political situation and war has impeded its development. In many countries their medical physics history has not been well recorded and there is a danger that it will be lost to future generations. In this paper, brief histories of the development of medical physics in most countries in Asia-Oceania are presented by a large number of authors to serve as a record. The histories are necessarily brief; otherwise the paper would quickly turn into a book of hundreds of pages. The emphasis in each history as recorded here varies as the focus and culture of the countries as well as the length of their histories varies considerably.
authors.affiliation: School of Engineering, University of Waikato, Private Bag 3105, Hamilton, 3240, New Zealand. h.round@waikato.ac.nz.
authors.forename: W H
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Round
authors.affiliation: Kabul Medical University, Kabul, Afghanistan.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jafari
authors.affiliation: Peter MacCallum Institute, Melbourne, Australia.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kron
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, Gono Bishwabidyalay, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
authors.forename: H A
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Azhari
authors.affiliation: Calmette Hospital, Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chhom
authors.affiliation: Cancer Institute, CAMS, Beijing, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Kowloon, Hong Kong.
authors.forename: G F
authors.initials: GF
authors.lastname: Mauldon
authors.affiliation: Hong Kong Sanatorium & Hospital, Wan Chai, Hong Kong.
authors.forename: K Y
authors.initials: KY
authors.lastname: Cheung
authors.affiliation: Medical Physics Division, Dr. Kamakshi Memorial Hospital, Chennai, India.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kuppusamy
authors.affiliation: Physics Department, University of Indonesia, Depok, Indonesia.
authors.forename: S A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Pawiro
authors.affiliation: Physics Department, University of Indonesia, Depok, Indonesia.
authors.forename: L E
authors.initials: LE
authors.lastname: Lubis
authors.affiliation: Physics Department, University of Indonesia, Depok, Indonesia.
authors.forename: D S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Soejoko
authors.affiliation: Physics Department, University of Indonesia, Depok, Indonesia.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Haryanto
authors.affiliation: Ion Beam Therapy Center, SAGA HIMAT Foundation, Tosu, Japan.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Endo
authors.affiliation: SamSungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Han
authors.affiliation: The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: T S
authors.initials: TS
authors.lastname: Suh
authors.affiliation: University of Malaya Medical Centre, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
authors.forename: K H
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Ng
authors.affiliation: Mongolian National University of Medical Sciences, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Luvsan-Ish
authors.affiliation: Yangon General Hospital, Yangon, Myanmar.
authors.forename: S O
authors.initials: SO
authors.lastname: Maung
authors.affiliation: B.P. Koirala Memorial Cancer Hospital, Bharatpur, Nepal.
authors.forename: P P
authors.initials: PP
authors.lastname: Chaurasia
authors.affiliation: Pakistan National Regulatory Authority, Islamabad, Pakistan.
authors.forename: S M A
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Jafri
authors.affiliation: Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, Karachi, Pakistan.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Farrukh
authors.affiliation: Department of Health, Manila, Philippines.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Peralta
authors.affiliation: Radiation Oncology Centre, Mount Elizabeth Hospital, Singapore, Singapore.
authors.forename: H J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Toh
authors.affiliation: Peter MacCallum Cancer Institute, Melbourne, Australia.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sarasanandarajah
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Physics, Koo Foundation Sun Yat-Sen Cancer Center Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: A C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Shiau
authors.affiliation: Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Krisanachinda
authors.affiliation: Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Suriyapee
authors.affiliation: Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Vinijsorn
authors.affiliation: Unit of PET-CT and Cyclotron, Choray Hospital, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
authors.forename: T C
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Nguyen
mesh_terms: D001208:Asia; D001703:Biophysics / Q000266:history*; D006666:History of Medicine; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049674:History, 21st Century; D006801:Humans; D044349:Oceania
keywords: History; Hospital physics; Medical physics; Medical technology