Specific Absorbed Fraction Values Research Articles

Specific Absorbed Fractions for Reference Paediatric Individuals.

The calculation of doses to organs and tissues of interest due to internally emitting radionuclides requires knowledge of the time-dependent distribution of the radionuclide, its physical decay properties, and the fraction of emitted energy absorbed per mass of the target. The latter property is quantified as the specific absorbed fraction (SAF). This publication provides photon, electron, alpha particle, and neutron (for nuclides undergoing spontaneous fission) SAF values for the suite of reference individuals. The reference individuals are defined largely by information provided in ICRP Publication 89. Some improvements and additional data are provided in this publication which define the reference individual's source and target region masses used in the Occupational Intake of Radionuclides (OIR) and Dose Coefficients for Intakes of Radionuclides by Members of the Public series of publications. The set of reference individuals includes males and females at 0 (newborn), 1, 5, 10, 15, and 20 (adult) years of age. The reference adult masses and SAFs provided in this publication are identical to those in ICRP Publication 133 and those used in the OIR series of publications. Computation of SAF values involves simulating radiation transport in computational models which represent the geometry of the reference individuals. The reference voxel phantoms of ICRP Publication 143 are used for photon and neutron transport, and most electron transport. Alpha particle transport is not necessary for large tissue regions as the short range allows for an assumption of full energy absorption (absorbed fraction of unity) for self-irradiation geometries. Additional computational models are needed for charged particles in small, overlapping, or interlaced geometries. Stylised models are described and used for electrons and alpha particles in the alimentary and respiratory tract regions. Image-based models are used to compute SAFs for charged particles within the skeleton. This publication is accompanied by an electronic supplement which includes files containing SAFs for each radiation type in each reference individual. The supplement also includes source and target region masses for each reference individual, as well as skeletal dose-response functions for photons incident upon the skeleton.© 2024 ICRP. Published by SAGE.

A mesh-based model of liver vasculature: implications for improved radiation dosimetry to liver parenchyma for radiopharmaceuticals

PurposeTo develop a model of the internal vasculature of the adult liver and demonstrate its application to the differentiation of radiopharmaceutical decay sites within liver parenchyma from those within organ blood.MethodComputer-generated models of hepatic arterial (HA), hepatic venous (HV), and hepatic portal venous (HPV) vascular trees were algorithmically created within individual lobes of the ICRP adult female and male livers (AFL/AML). For each iteration of the algorithm, pressure, blood flow, and vessel radii within each tree were updated as each new vessel was created and connected to a viable bifurcation site. The vascular networks created inside the AFL/AML were then tetrahedralized for coupling to the PHITS radiation transport code. Specific absorbed fractions (SAF) were computed for monoenergetic alpha particles, electrons, positrons, and photons. Dual-region liver models of the AFL/AML were proposed, and particle-specific SAF values were computed assuming radionuclide decays in blood within two locations: (1) sites within explicitly modeled hepatic vessels, and (2) sites within the hepatic blood pool residing outside these vessels to include the capillaries and blood sinuses. S values for 22 and 10 radionuclides commonly used in radiopharmaceutical therapy and imaging, respectively, were computed using the dual-region liver models and compared to those obtained in the existing single-region liver model.ResultsLiver models with virtual vasculatures of ~ 6000 non-intersecting straight cylinders representing the HA, HPV, and HV circulations were created for the ICRP reference. For alpha emitters and for beta and auger-electron emitters, S values using the single-region models were approximately 11% (AML) to 14% (AFL) and 11% (AML) to 13% (AFL) higher than the S values obtained using the dual-region models, respectively.ConclusionsThe methodology employed in this study has shown improvements in organ parenchymal dosimetry through explicit consideration of blood self-dose for alpha particles (all energies) and for electrons at energies below ~ 100 keV.

Specific absorbed fractions for a revised series of the UF/NCI pediatric reference phantoms: internal photon sources

Assessment of radiation absorbed dose to internal organs of the body from the intake of radionuclides, or in the medical setting through the injection of radiopharmaceuticals, is generally performed based upon reference biokinetic models or patient imaging data, respectively. Biokinetic models estimate the time course of activity localized to source organs. The time-integration of these organ activity profiles are then scaled by the radionuclide S-value, which defines the absorbed dose to a target tissue per nuclear transformation in various source tissues. S-values are computed using established nuclear decay information (particle energies and yields), and a parameter termed the specific absorbed fraction (SAF). The SAF is the ratio of the absorbed fraction—fraction of particle energy emitted in the source tissue that is deposited in the target tissue—and the target organ mass. While values of the SAF may be computed using patient-specific or individual-specific anatomic models, they have been more widely available through the use of computational reference phantoms. In this study, we report on an extensive series of photon SAFs computed in a revised series of the University of Florida and the National Cancer Institute pediatric reference phantoms which have been modified to conform to the specifications embodied in the ICRP reference adult phantoms of Publication 110 (e.g. organs modeled, organ ID numbers, blood contribution to elemental compositions). Following phantom anatomical revisions, photon radiation transport simulations were performed using MCNPX v2.7 in each of the ten phantoms of the series—male and female newborn, 1 year old, 5 year old, 10 year old, and 15 year old—for 60 different tissues serving as source and/or target regions. A total of 25 photon energies were considered from 10 keV to 10 MeV along a logarithm energy grid. Detailed analyses were conducted of the relative statistical errors in the Monte Carlo target tissue energy deposition tallies at low photon energies and over all energies for source–target combinations at large intra-organ separation distances. Based on these analyses, various data smoothing algorithms were employed, including multi-point weighted data smoothing, and log–log interpolation at low energies (1 keV and 5 keV) using limiting SAF values based upon target organ mass to bound the interpolation interval. The final dataset is provided in a series of ten electronic supplemental files in MS Excel format. The results of this study were further used as the basis for assessing the radiative component of internal electron source SAFs as described in our companion paper (Schwarz et al 2021) for this same pediatric phantom series.

Development of a nonhuman primate computational phantom for radiation dosimetry.

The nonhuman primate (NHP) is an important animal model for evaluating the response of the human body to radiation exposure owing to similarities between its organ structure, genome, life span, and metabolism. However, there is a lack of radiation dosimetry estimations for NHPs. The aim of this work is to construct a computational phantom of NHPs and estimate absorbed fractions and specific absorbed fractions for internal radiation dosimetry. A female rhesus monkey was frozen and sectioned using a cryomacrotome. The transaxial sectioned images were imported into Adobe Photoshop for segmentation of internal organs. A total of 31 organs/tissues were identified and labeled. The segmented voxel phantom was then converted to a boundary representation (BREP) phantom to enable easy alteration of the phantom to mimic monkeys of different stature. The BREP model was then voxelized and imported into the MCNPX Monte Carlo radiation transport code for electron and photon dosimetry calculations. To estimate the appropriateness of using human phantoms as surrogate models for NHPs, absorbed fractions (AFs) and specific absorbed fractions (SAFs) of monoenergetic electrons and photons were calculated and compared with the ICRP reference newborn female phantom and a 1-yr-old female phantom. Considerable differences were observed for both self-absorbed and cross-absorbed doses for some organs between the NHP phantom and newborn phantom. For example, the ratios of the self-absorbed SAF(stomach wall) Monkey to SAF(stomach wall) Newborn ranged from 0.06 at 10keV to 0.29 at 3MeV for photons while the corresponding ratios to cross-absorbed SAF(liver→kidney) Monkey to SAF(liver→kidney) Newborn ranged from 0.78 at 50keV to 5.78 at 10keV for photons. Conversely, values of self-absorbed SAF were much higher (ratios of 2.39-4.19) for the brain and much lower for the uterus (0.51-0.61) in the monkey model compared to the newborn phantom. These dose differences can be attributed to the disparities between organ masses, shapes, and positions between the two phantoms. The developed NHP model can be exploited for the assessment of radiation dose to NHPs in preclinical radiation dosimetry studies and radiation therapy research.

Assessment of self- and cross-absorbed SAF values for HDRK-man using Geant4 code: internal photon and electron emitters

The ultimate need to account for the partial amount of energy deposited in target tissue/organ resulting from internal inhalation, ingestion, and injection intakes of radionuclides, defined by the Medical Internal Radiation Dosimetry committee as the specific absorbed fraction (SAF), has become obvious. In this study, we assessed the SAF values for self- and cross-absorption, which were calculated for a uniform distribution of monoenergetic photon and electron emitters with energies ranging from 15 keV to 3 MeV. The voxelized human phantom “High-Definition Reference Korean-man” (HDRK-man), which was implemented using the Monte Carlo simulation code Geant4 (version 10.1), was used for several combinations of target–source organs. The results were compared to those of the International Commission on Radiological Protection Reference (ICRP133) and Zubal phantoms. It was found that the SAF values of the three models have a similar trend. However, the SAF values for the HDRK-man phantom were higher than those of the other two models, with a relatively good agreement with those for the ICRP133 phantom (differences of 13.9 ± 2.8 and 12.1 ± 3.2 for photon and electron emitters, respectively). To analyze the differences in SAF values, we calculated the chord length distributions (CLDs) for selected target–source combinations. The parameters of organ mass (or volume) and CLDs, in addition to the adopted computational procedures, mainly cause such discrepancies. For realistic radionuclide emission spectra, an overall overestimation was observed when computing the S values for three radiopharmaceuticals studied (I-131, In-111, and Lu-177) and for liver–spleen intra- and inter-organ absorption when compared with published data. The new arrangement of S and SAF values is expected to add value for multidisciplinary research and clinical communities.

Internal Dose Assessment after 131I-Iodide Misadministration in a Patient With Incompletely Blocked Thyroid Uptake: Personalized Internal Dose Assessment by Estimating Individual-Specific Biokinetics

In July 2017, a medical accident occurred in South Korea, in which I-iodide solution was misadministered to the wrong patient. Although the International Commission on Radiological Protection provided internal dose coefficients for iodine for blocked thyroid, they were not reliable enough for determining the dose to the patient (whose thyroid uptake was incompletely blocked) due to a discrepancy in biokinetics. Therefore, a personalized dose assessment was performed to derive the individual-specific dose coefficients for the patient. Initially, the thyroid biokinetics of the patient were statistically clarified by fitting bioassay monitoring results and the corresponding predicted bioassay values, which were calculated repeatedly for varying iodine transfer rates in an iodine biokinetic model. After determining the transfer rate for the patient, the individual-specific dose coefficients were then calculated in accordance with latest recommendations of the International Commission on Radiological Protection. According to the individual-specific biokinetics, the 24 h thyroid uptake fraction of iodine was estimated as 0.52%. The thyroid absorbed dose of the patient was evaluated as 21.2 Gy, which differed greatly (by about 9 Gy) from the dose evaluated simply using the reference data for blocked thyroid uptake. The personalized dose assessment carried out for the patient not only reduced considerable uncertainties in the internal dose calculation, but also improved the reliability of the calculated internal dose by adopting the latest dosimetric data, including specific absorbed fraction values based on voxel phantoms. Through the dose assessment of the patient, the methodology of personalized dose assessment considering individual-specific biokinetics was developed.

Evaluation of Electron Specific Absorbed Fractions in Organs of Digimouse Voxel Phantom Using Monte Carlo Simulation Code FLUKA

Background: For preclinical evaluations of radiopharmaceuticals, most studies are carried out on mice. Values of electron specific absorbed fractions (SAF) have had vital role in the assessment of absorbed dose. In past studies, electron specific absorbed fractions were given for limited source target pairs using older reports of human organ compositions.Objective: Electron specific absorbed fraction values for monoenergetic electrons of energies 15, 50, 100, 500, 1000 and 4000 keV were evaluated for the Digimouse voxel phantom incorporated in Monte Carlo code FLUKA. The organ sources considered in this study were lungs, skeleton, heart, bladder, testis, stomach, spleen, pancreas, liver, kidney, adrenal, eye and brain. The considered target organs were lungs, skeleton, heart, bladder, testis, stomach, spleen, pancreas, liver, kidney, adrenal and brain. Eye and brain were considered as target organs only for eye and brain as source organs. From the latest report (International Commission on Radiological Protection ICRP) publication number 110, organ compositions and densities were adopted.Results: The electron specific absorbed fraction values for self-irradiation decreases with increasing electron energy. The electron specific absorbed fraction values for cross-irradiation are also found to be dependent on the electron energy and the geometries of source and target. Organ masses and electron specific absorbed fraction values are presented in tabular form. Conclusion: The results of this study will be useful in evaluating the absorbed dose to various organs of mice similar in size to the present study.

Evaluation of Electron Specific Absorbed Fractions in Organs of Digimouse Voxel Phantom Using Monte Carlo Simulation Code FLUKA

For preclinical evaluations of radiopharmaceuticals, most studies are carried out on mice. Electron specific absorbed fractions (SAF) values have had vital role in the assessment of absorbed dose. In past studies, electron SAFs were given for limited source target pairs using older reports of human organ compositions. Electron specific absorbed fraction values for monoenergetic electrons of energies 15, 50, 100, 500, 1000 & 4000 keV were evaluated for the Digimouse voxel phantom incorporated in Monte Carlo code FLUKA. From the latest report (International Commission on Radiological Protection ICRP) 110, organ compositions and densities were adopted. We have used the Digimouse voxel phantom which was incorporated in Monte Carlo code FLUKA. Simulation studies were performed using FLUKA. The organ sources considered in this study were lungs, skeleton, heart, bladder, testis, stomach, spleen, pancreas, liver, kidney, adrenal, eye and brain. The considered target organs were lungs, skeleton, heart, bladder, testis, stomach, spleen, pancreas, liver, kidney, adrenal and brain. Eye and brain were considered as target organs only for eye and brain as source organs. The electron SAF values for self-irradiation decreases with increasing electron energy. The electron SAF values for cross-irradiation are also found to be dependent on the electron energy and the geometries of source and target. Organ masses and electron SAF values are presented in tabular form. The results of this study will be useful in evaluating the absorbed dose to various organs of mice similar in size to the present study.

P089] Calculations of specific absorbed fractions in organs of human body in nuclear medicine due application of 81MKr

Monte Carlo simulations were performed to assess the dose in the treatment of radiopharmaceuticals 81mKr. This radiopharmaceutical is used in treatments in nuclear medicine as an indication for cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases. The aim of this paper was to evaluate the specific absorbed fraction (SAF) when this radiopharmaceutical is incorporated in the lungs. For this purpose, we developed a voxel phantom (thorax) and was compared to the ORNL phantom. All calculations and simulations are done using the MCNP5/X code. Purpose Nuclear medicine uses radioactive isotopes and compounds for diagnosis and therapy. The use of different isotopes depending on the procedure applied to the patient dose distribution. In order to produce the least damage to the patient in therapy and provide good results for diagnostic purposes, the isotope must have a short half-life. Methods In this paper, two types of phantom were used - ORNL mathematical phantoms and voxel phantom. In order to calculate absorbed doses and SAF, a voxel phantom of the thorax was developed. The construction of voxel phantom depends on the quality of digital images of patients obtained during CT or MRI examination. In this paper, a voxel phantom (Thorax model) was obtained using a DICOM set of 108 CT images of the female patient under approved standard protocols. Results The SAF for the selected organ is calculated by the following formula: SAF = E d E i m Where is: the E d is mean energy is deposited throughout the body, E i the primary energy emitted by the source and m is the mass organ/tissue. Calculated SAF values of both phantom models are normalized in relation to the lungs, which provide a comparison of this two models. Conclusion The obtained results of the evaluation of SAF in different organs/tissues, during the incorporation of 81mKr in the lungs, are shown during the process in the scintigraphic examination. The difference in the results obtained by the use of the voxel model and the ORNL mathematical phantom model is between 4.47% and 19.7%.

Validation of GATE for bone and bone marrow with calculation specific absorbed fraction for photons.

GATE/GEANT is a Monte Carlo code dedicated to nuclear medicine that allows calculation of the dose to organs (bone and bone marrow) of voxel phantoms. On the other hand, Medical Internal Radiation Dose (MIRD) is a well-developed system for estimation of the dose to human organs. In this study, results obtained from GATE/GEANT using leg of Snyder phantom is compared to published MIRD data. For this, the mathematical leg of Snyder phantom was discretized and converted to a digital phantom of 100 × 100 × 200 voxels. The activity was considered uniformly distributed within bone and bone marrow. The GATE/GEANT Monte Carlo code was used to calculate the dose to the bone and bone marrow of the leg phantom from mono-energetic photons of 10, 15, 20, 30, 50, 100, 200, 500, and 1000 keV. The dose was converted into a specific absorbed fraction (SAF) and the results were compared to the corresponding published MIRD data. On average, there was a good correlation between the two series of data for self-absorption (r 2 = 0.99) and for cross-irradiation (r 2 = 0.99). However, the GATE/GEANT data were on average 1.01 ± 0.79% higher than the corresponding MIRD data for self-absorption. As for cross-irradiation, the GATE/GEANT data were on average 8.11 ± 7.95% higher than the MIRD data. In this study, the SAF values derived from GATE/GEANT and the corresponding MIRD published data were compared. On average, the SAF values derived with GATE/GEANT showed an acceptable correlation and agreement with the MIRD data for the photon energies of 50-1000 keV. For photons of 10-30 keV, there was an only poor agreement between the GATE/GEANT results and MIRD data.

IDAC-Dose 2.1, an internal dosimetry program for diagnostic nuclear medicine based on the ICRP adult reference voxel phantoms

BackgroundTo date, the estimated radiation-absorbed dose to organs and tissues in patients undergoing diagnostic examinations in nuclear medicine is derived via calculations based on models of the human body and the biokinetic behaviour of the radiopharmaceutical. An internal dosimetry computer program, IDAC-Dose2.1, was developed based on the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP)-specific absorbed fractions and computational framework of internal dose assessment given for reference adults in ICRP Publication 133. The program uses the radionuclide decay database of ICRP Publication 107 and considers 83 different source regions irradiating 47 target tissues, defining the effective dose as presented in ICRP Publications 60 and 103. The computer program was validated against another ICRP dosimetry program, Dose and Risk Calculation (DCAL), that employs the same computational framework in evaluation of occupational and environmental intakes of radionuclides. IDAC-Dose2.1 has a sub-module for absorbed dose calculations in spherical structures of different volumes and composition; this sub-module is intended for absorbed dose estimates in radiopharmaceutical therapy. For nine specific alpha emitters, the absorbed dose contribution from their decay products is also included in the committed absorbed dose calculations.ResultsThe absorbed doses and effective dose of 131I-iodide determined by IDAC-Dose2.1 were validated against the dosimetry program DCAL, showing identical results. IDAC-Dose2.1 was used to calculate absorbed doses for intravenously administered 18F-FDG and orally administered 99mTc-pertechnetate and 131I-iodide, three frequently used radiopharmaceuticals. Using the tissue weighting factors from ICRP Publication 103, the effective dose per administered activity was estimated to be 0.016 mSv/MBq for 18F-FDG, 0.014 mSv/MBq for 99mTc-pertechnetate, and 16 mSv/MBq for 131I-iodide.ConclusionsThe internal dosimetry program IDAC-Dose2.1 was developed and applied to three radiopharmaceuticals for validation against DCAL and to generate improved absorbed dose estimations for diagnostic nuclear medicine using specific absorbed fraction values of the ICRP computational voxel phantoms. The sub-module for absorbed dose calculations in spherical structures 1 mm to 9 cm in diameter and different tissue composition was included to broaden the clinical usefulness of the program. The IDAC-Dose2.1 program is free software for research and available for download at http://www.idac-dose.org.

Geant4/GATE Monte Carlo Code for Internal Dosimetry Using Voxelized Phantom

It is of great interest to estimate absorbed doses in organs before radiation therapy, especially in nuclear medicine field. In this regard, the internal dose distribution is required. According to the MIRD formalism, Specific Absorbed Fraction (SAF) is an essential parameter for internal dosimetry. In the present work, SAF values for the voxelized phantom (Golem) of the GSF-National Research Center for Environment and Health were calculated using Geant4/GATE with Standard packages and compared with GSF Monte Carlo reference data. Photon irradiations of 30, 100 keV and 1 MeV energy were simulated in eleven different sources and target organs: liver, kidneys, lungs, brain, pancreas, spleen, colon, Red bone marrow (RBM), stomach, thyroid and adrenals. The SAF for self-absorption and for cross-irradiation to other organs were calculated and compared with literature. The results agree with published data, with an average relative difference less than 3%, for the self-absorption of 100 keV and 1 MeV photon energies. The agreement of Geant4/GATE and GSF code might depend on the distance between target and source, the target mass and the photons energy. Generally, the present results indicate that GATE might be used with gamma emitters for internal dosimetry in regard to our prospective works.

Specific Absorbed Fractions of Internal Photon and Electron Emitters in a Human Voxel-based Phantom: A Monte Carlo Study.

The specific absorbed fraction (SAF) of energy is an essential element of internal dose assessment. Here reported a set of SAFs calculated for selected organs of a human voxel-based phantom. The Monte Carlo transport code GATE version 6.1 was used to simulate monoenergetic photons and electrons with energies ranging from 10 keV to 2 MeV. The particles were emitted from three source organs: kidneys, liver, and spleen. SAFs were calculated for three target regions in the body (kidneys, liver, and spleen) and compared with the results obtained using the MCNP4B and GATE/GEANT4 Monte Carlo codes. For most photon energies, the self-irradiation is higher, and the cross-irradiation is lower in the GATE results compared to the MCNP4B. The results show generally good agreement for photons and high-energy electrons with discrepancies within − 2% ±3%. Nevertheless, significant differences were found for cross-irradiation of photons of lower energy and electrons of higher energy due to statistical uncertainties larger than 10%. The comparisons of the SAF values for the human voxel phantom do not show significant differences, and the results also demonstrated the usefulness and applicability of GATE Monte Carlo package for voxel level dose calculations in nonuniform media. The present SAFs calculation for the Zubal voxel phantom is validated by the intercomparison of the results obtained by other Monte Carlo codes.

Inclusion of thin target and source regions in alimentary and respiratory tract systems of mesh-type ICRP adult reference phantoms

It is not feasible to define very small or complex organs and tissues in the current voxel-type adult reference computational phantoms of the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP), which limit dose coefficients for weakly penetrating radiations. To address the problem, the ICRP is converting the voxel-type reference phantoms into mesh-type phantoms. In the present study, as a part of the conversion project, the micrometer-thick target and source regions in the alimentary and respiratory tract systems as described in ICRP Publications 100 and 66 were included in the mesh-type ICRP reference adult male and female phantoms. In addition, realistic lung airway models were simulated to represent the bronchial (BB) and bronchiolar (bb) regions. The electron specific absorbed fraction (SAF) values for the alimentary and respiratory tract systems were then calculated and compared with the values calculated with the stylized models of ICRP Publications 100 and 66. The comparisons show generally good agreement for the oral cavity, oesophagus, and BB, whereas for the stomach, small intestine, large intestine, extrathoracic region, and bb, there are some differences (e.g. up to ~9 times in the large intestine). The difference is mainly due to anatomical difference in these organs between the realistic mesh-type phantoms and the simplified stylized models. The new alimentary and respiratory tract models in the mesh-type ICRP reference phantoms preserve the topology and dimensions of the voxel-type ICRP phantoms and provide more reliable SAF values than the simplified models adopted in previous ICRP Publications.

RODES software for dose assessment of rats and mice contaminated with radionuclides

In order to support animal experiments of chronic radionuclides intake with realistic dosimetry, voxel-based three-dimensional computer models of mice and rats of both sexes and three ages were built from magnetic resonance imaging. Radiation transport of mono-energetic photons of 11 energies and electrons of 7 energies was simulated with MCNPX 2.6c to assess specific absorbed fractions (SAFs) of energy emitted from 13 source regions and absorbed in 28 target regions. RODES software was developed to combine SAF with radiation emission spectra and user-supplied biokinetic data to calculate organ absorbed doses per nuclear transformation of radionuclides in source regions (S-factors) and for specific animal experiments with radionuclides. This article presents the design of RODES software including the simulation of the particles in the created rodent voxel phantoms. SAF and S-factor values were compared favourably with published results from similar studies. The results are discussed for rodents of different ages and sexes.

In vivo measurements for biokinetic and monte carlo simulations of absorbed dose in paediatric patients using radiopharmaceuticals

Introduction The use of radiopharmaceuticals implies calculation of absorbed doses according to MIRD methodology. However, particularly in children, other parameters are thought to be important and determinant for dose calculations. Amongst these are the pharmacokinetics characteristics of each radiotracer and their relationship with organ physiology and pathology, and the patients’ anatomical characteristics. Therefore, there is a need to improve dosimetric calculations based on other algorithms taking into account those variables. Purpose Improve 99mTc-DMSA and 99mTc-MAG3 calculated absorbed doses in children after intravenous administration for diagnostic purposes. Gamma camera and in vivo measurements were used to assess the biokinetic data. The specific absorbed fraction (SAF) values are estimated via Monte Carlo simulations and scaled VOXEL phantoms. Materials and methods In vivo measurements were mathematically analysed in order to obtain a value for the activity as function of time. The simulations were performed using MCNPX and two paediatric VOXEL phantoms (BABY and CHILD) which were scaled to fit several anatomical parameters, such as body weight, height and kidney mass, amongst others. The biokinetic curves were compared with reference data. Multiple SAF values were obtained to determine absorbed doses in these children. Results Deviations from the reference values were found, mainly related to children specific pathology. Furthermore we found SAF values to be strongly dependent on body and organ mass, kidney dimensions and velocity of excretion amongst other anatomical and physiological parameters. Conclusion The data strongly suggests that other parameters rather than age and body weight are paramount in calculating absorbed doses in paediatric populations.

Estimation of Photon and Electron Specific Absorbed Fractions for Selected Organs of a Human Voxelizedphantom Using GATE Monte Carlo Package

Background: The specific absorbed fraction (SAF) of energy is an essential element of internal dose assessment. Objectives: Here we report a set of SAFs calculated for selected organs of ahuman computational phantom. Materials and Methods: The Monte Carlo transport code GATE version 6.1 was used to simulate monoenergetic photons and elec- trons with energies ranging from 10 keV to 2 MeV. The particles were emitted from three source organs: the kidneys, liver, and spleen. SAFs were calculated for three target regions in the body (kidneys, liver, and spleen) and compared with the results obtained using MCNP4B and GATE/GEANT4 Monte Carlo codes. For most photon energies, the self-irradiation was higher and cross-irradiation was lower in the results obtained using GATE than those obtained usingMCNP4B. Results: The results showed generally good agreement for photons and high-energy electrons, with discrepancies within -2 3%. Nevertheless, significant dierences were found for cross-irradiation of photons of lower energy and electrons of higher energy due to statistical uncertainties larger than 10%. The comparisons of SAF values for the human voxel phantom did not show significant dierences; furthermore, the results demonstrated the usefulness and applicability of the GATE Monte Carlo package for voxel level dose calculations in non-uniform media. Conclusions: The present SAF calculation for the Zubal voxel phantom is validated by comparison with the results obtained using other Monte Carlo codes.

WE‐H‐207A‐07: Image‐Based Versus Atlas‐Based Internal Dosimetry

Purpose:Monte Carlo (MC) simulation is known as the gold standard method for internal dosimetry. It requires radionuclide distribution from PET or SPECT and body structure from CT for accurate dose calculation. The manual or semi‐automatic segmentation of organs from CT images is a major obstacle. The aim of this study is to compare the dosimetry results based on patient's own CT and a digital humanoid phantom as an atlas with pre‐specified organs.Methods:SPECT‐CT images of a 50 year old woman who underwent bone pain palliation with Samarium‐153 EDTMP for osseous metastases from breast cancer were used. The anatomical date and attenuation map were extracted from SPECT/CT and three XCAT digital phantoms with different BMIs (i.e. matched (38.8) and unmatched (35.5 and 36.7) with patient's BMI that was 38.3). Segmentation of patient's organs in CT image was performed using itk‐SNAP software. GATE MC Simulator was used for dose calculation. Specific absorbed fractions (SAFs) and S‐values were calculated for the segmented organs.Results:The differences between SAFs and S‐values are high using different anatomical data and range from −13% to 39% for SAF values and −109% to 79% for S‐values in different organs. In the spine, the clinically important target organ for Samarium Therapy, the differences in the S‐values and SAF values are higher between XCAT phantom and CT when the phantom with identical BMI is employed (53.8% relative difference in S‐value and 26.8% difference in SAF). However, the whole body dose values were the same between the calculations based on the CT and XCAT with different BMIs.Conclusion:The results indicated that atlas‐based dosimetry using XCAT phantom even with matched BMI for patient leads to considerable errors as compared to image‐based dosimetry that uses the patient's own CT Patient‐specific dosimetry using CT image is essential for accurate results.

Application of GATE/Geant4 for internal dosimetry using male ICRP reference voxel phantom by specific absorbed fractions calculations for photon irradiation

Targeted internal radiation is a type of radiation therapy in nuclear medicine (NM) that is efficient in small and disseminated tumours specially in metastatic disease. In any medical procedure that involves radiation exposure the radiation dosimetry is required and the dose distribution in NM is of great interest to estimate absorbed doses in organs of risk and tumours. Specific absorbed fraction (SAF) is an essential parameter that connects the dose received by a tissue and the emitting volume and, currently, SAF calculations using Monte Carlo (MC) simulations may be considered one of the most appropriate methods for individualized dosimetry. In this work, SAF values for International Commission on Radiological Protection adult male voxelized phantom were calculated using GATE/Geant4 Standard and Livermore packages and compared with MCNPX and EGSnrc reference data. Photon irradiations with energies ranging from 10 keV to 10 MeV were simulated in three different source organs: liver, lungs and thyroid. SAF values of four target organs (breasts, lungs, colon wall and stomach wall) were calculated and compared with reference data. Obtained results agreed with the reference data with an average accuracy better than 3% for energies above 50 keV and up to 3.3% for the full range of energies. Results suggest that, although good agreement was found for both GATE/Geant4 packages with MCNPX and EGSnrc, Livermore package shows more stability and it is slightly more accurate than Standard package, mostly when its results are compared with EGSnrc. However, the agreement of both GATE/Geant4 packages with the MCNPX and EGSnrc codes might depend on the pair TO/SO. Finally, results indicate that GATE might be used for internal dosimetry of gamma emitters and also encourage the development of a GATE SAF database using reference phantoms.

Evaluation of specific absorbed fractions from internal photon sources in the ICRP Reference Male Phantom

In order to estimate the dose caused by internal radiation, it is necessary to know the specific absorbed fraction (SAF) values; through this work these values have been calculated using the Adult Male Reference Computational Phantom (RCP-AM) from the Publication 110 of the International Commission Radiologic Protection and the Monte Carlo transport code MCNPX. These values were calculated for a combination of 980 pairs of source and target organs, for a total of 12 energies. The results were validated and compared with the results reported by other authors: Hadid et al. (RCP-AM), Petoussi-Henss and Zankl (Golem) and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) stylised model reported by Cristy and Eckerman. Mostly, the SAF values calculated with the RCP-AM do not present significant differences in relation to its previous model Golem. When comparing the SAF values of RCP-AM with that of the ORNL stylised model, huge differences were found. These differences can be explained by the shape of the organs and their relative positions, which are more realistic in the voxelised phantoms.