Development and Validation of RAPID: A Patient-Specific Monte Carlo Three-Dimensional Internal Dosimetry Platform

Cancer Biother Radiopharm. 2018 May;33(4):155-165. doi: 10.1089/cbr.2018.2451. Epub 2018 Apr 25.

Abstract

This work describes the development and validation of a patient-specific Monte Carlo internal dosimetry platform called RAPID (Radiopharmaceutical Assessment Platform for Internal Dosimetry). RAPID utilizes serial PET/CT or SPECT/CT images to calculate voxelized three-dimensional (3D) internal dose distributions with the Monte Carlo code Geant4. RAPID's dosimetry calculations were benchmarked against previously published S-values and specific absorbed fractions (SAFs) calculated for monoenergetic photon and electron sources within the Zubal phantom and for S-values calculated for a variety of radionuclides within spherical tumor phantoms with sizes ranging from 1 to 1000 g. The majority of the S-values and SAFs calculated in the Zubal Phantom were within 5% of the previously published values with the exception of a few 10 keV photon SAFs that agreed within 10%, and one value within 16%. The S-values calculated in the spherical tumor phantoms agreed within 2% for 177Lu, 131I, 125I, 18F, and 64Cu, within 3.5% for 211At and 213Bi, within 6.5% for 153Sm, 111In, 89Zr, and 223Ra, and within 9% for 90Y, 68Ga, and 124I. In conclusion, RAPID is capable of calculating accurate internal dosimetry at the voxel-level for a wide variety of radionuclides and could be a useful tool for calculating patient-specific 3D dose distributions.

Keywords: Monte Carlo; internal dosimetry; radiopharmaceuticals; targeted radionuclide therapy.

MeSH terms

  • Humans
  • Imaging, Three-Dimensional / methods*
  • Radiopharmaceuticals / therapeutic use*
  • Radiotherapy Planning, Computer-Assisted / methods*

Substances

  • Radiopharmaceuticals