Computed tomography (CT) and nuclear medicine examinations are indispensable in modern diagnostics but remain a major source of medical radiation exposure for both adults and children. This research aims to establish evidence-based, locally relevant protocols that balance image quality with radiation safety across a wide population.
Supported by a UGC Research Matching Grant Scheme project, Dr Marco Tam is implementing a dose management system to capture patient and organ doses from commonly used CT and nuclear medicine protocols in routine practice. The study focuses on both general adults and paediatric patients, analysing large-scale data to identify variation in practice, benchmark against international recommendations, and highlight opportunities for dose reductions without compromising diagnostic value.
Using these dose distributions, the team plans to propose optimised protocol parameters and organ dose reference levels that can inform hospital policies and contribute to the development of national-level guidance. The ultimate objective is to support safer imaging pathways across Hong Kong and Chinese Mainland by providing robust local evidence for protocol revision, thereby reducing unnecessary radiation exposure while maintaining high standards of diagnostic care.