SU-F-BRA-15: Physical Aspects and Clinical Applications of Post-Treatment Yttrium-90 PET-Based Dosimetry

Journal Article · Mon Jun 15 00:00:00 EDT 2015 · Medical Physics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1118/1.4925226· OSTI ID:22555221

Veltchev, I; Doss, M; Yu, J; Meyer, J; Ma, C ^[1]; Fourkal, E ^[1]

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1. Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia, PA (United States)

Purpose: The accuracy of PET-based post-treatment dosimetry of yttrium-90 microspheres has been improving over the past decade and is now at a stage, permitting volumetric dose-outcome studies. We outline the recent advances and identify the physical limitations to the accuracy of the dose calculations. Methods: Convolution of the measured PET activity density distribution with a pre-calculated voxel-dose-kernel (VDK) is the most widely used method for dose reconstruction. Therefore, accurate knowledge of the beta+ branching ratio as well as the micro-dosimetric characteristics of electron interactions within the microsphere is essential for the computation of the dose kernel. We implement a model of the microspheres used in our clinic to calculate the modified electron energy spectrum at the microsphere’s surface and to determine the impact of self-shielding on the dose reconstruction. The three-dimensional dose distributions obtained for 10 patients treated with radio-embolization with yttrium-90 microspheres are evaluated and various DVH markers are investigated for correlation with outcome. Results: The methods for reducing the overall computation uncertainty are systematically outlined in this presentation. Since the latest experimental data on yttrium-90 beta+ branching ratio has a relative uncertainty of 1.5%, all contributing factors derived from Monte Carlo simulations must be brought to a sub 1% level. The self-shielding within the microspheres is found to be responsible for up to 6% reduction of the reconstructed dose in low-gradient regions and must be taken into account. The contribution of trace amounts of other beta+ emitters introduced during the manufacturing process is also discussed. Conclusion: The accelerating pace of clinical adoption of PET-based post-treatment dosimetry is mainly due to advances in both quantitative PET imaging and physical models of dose deposition. We show that the overall physical dose uncertainty in the convolution step can be further reduced, thus making ongoing multi-institutional dose-outcome studies even more reliable.

• OSTI ID: 22555221
• Journal Information: Medical Physics, Vol. 42, Issue 6; Other Information: (c) 2015 American Association of Physicists in Medicine; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0094-2405
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

61 RADIATION PROTECTION AND DOSIMETRY
60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES
ACCURACY
BIOMEDICAL RADIOGRAPHY
BRANCHING RATIO
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION
DOSIMETRY
ENERGY SPECTRA
MICROSPHERES
MONTE CARLO METHOD
PERTURBED ANGULAR CORRELATION
POSITRON COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY
RADIATION DOSE DISTRIBUTIONS
RADIATION DOSES
SELF-SHIELDING
VASCULAR DISEASES
YTTRIUM 90