A research team from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Faculty of Science and Technology (FST), University of Macau (UM), recently participated in the Third Asian Nuclear Medicine Academic Forum and won the only first prize in the Fourth Rising Nuclear Medicine Professional Challenge, the highest honour of the forum, for their work titled ‘A Framework for Improved 3D Personalised Targeted Radionuclide Therapy Dosimetry Using Registration on Sequential ECT/CT’. This is the first time that a team from Macao has won this award. 13 research teams from different Asian countries and regions competed for the honour.
The UM team was led by Greta Mok, an associate professor from the FST’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and a joint associate professor from the Faculty of Health Sciences. The project was presented at the forum by Li Tiantian, a postgraduate student from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. It concerns a multidisciplinary research topic, consolidating expertise in medical physics, engineering, and computer science for medicine. Based on the patients’ functional 3D radionuclide imaging and CT data, the UM team developed a piece of one-stop computing software to provide accurate and precise dosimetric calculation for targeted radionuclide therapy. This tool enhances the efficacy of tumour treatment while reducing toxicity to normal organs, providing a personalised treatment plan for patients based on their own imaging data.
The forum attracted over 250 experts and scholars from 18 countries and regions in Asia. Second prizes went to the teams from mainland China and India, while third prizes were awarded to teams from Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Thailand.
Prof Mok is one of the few scientists who have returned to Macao after completing their education overseas. After graduating from Johns Hopkins University in the United States, she returned to Macao in 2010 and joined UM. As the leader of a research team, she is dedicated to promoting the development of medical imaging and nurturing professionals in the field for Macao.
