DEVELOPMENT OF A SET OF MESH-BASED AND AGE-DEPENDENT CHINESE PHANTOMS AND APPLICATION FOR CT DOSE CALCULATIONS

Study on the Effect of Adipose Tissue on Neutron Dose Evaluation for the Human Body Using Voxel Phantoms with Different Weight

ABSTRACT

When human body is irradiated by neutrons, the adipose content has a significant impact on the neutron dose and induced 24Na activity. To investigate the effect of human adipose content on the conversion coefficients from 24Na activity to neutron dose, five male adult reference computational phantoms with weights ranging from 73.5 kg to 136.5 kg were used. The Monte Carlo N-particle (MCNP) code was used to calculate the neutron absorbed dose and the yield of induced 24Na in the phantoms irradiated by 252Cf neutrons and monoenergetic neutrons. The results showed that the difference in the conversion coefficients from 24Na activity to neutron absorbed dose among the five phantoms irradiated by 252Cf neutrons with anterior posterior (AP) geometry was ≤23.30%, and this difference was attributed mainly to the neutron absorbed dose, which increases with increasing adipose content. Considering the self-absorption of gamma rays in the human body, the counts of 24Na characteristic gamma rays measured directly by the radiation detector outside of the body have no significant trend varying with adipose content, and the difference in the conversion coefficients from the measured counts to neutron dose among the five phantoms irradiated by 252Cf neutrons with AP geometry was ≤5.25%.

Chinese reference population: Open-source age-dependent computational phantoms of reference Chinese population

PURPOSE

Computational phantoms have been widely used in radiation protection, radiotherapy, medical imaging, surgery navigation, and digital anatomy. However, current Chinese phantoms lack representation for all sensitive groups including adults, children, and pregnant women. This manuscript aims to address this gap by developing novel open-access computational phantoms representing the Chinese population.

ACQUISITION AND VALIDATION METHODS

The Chinese reference population (CRP) developed in this study includes 30 phantoms, available in both voxel and nonuniform rational B-spline (NURBS) formats, with ages in 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, 15, 18 years, and adult male and female, as well as four pregnant women in early pregnancy, first trimester, second trimester, and third trimester. The development process involved image segmentation, NURBS reconstruction, and voxelization based on whole-body computed tomography (CT) scans of 22 original individual patients. Reference organ masses were directly obtained from the Chinese Reference Human Anatomical Physiological and Metabolic Data, as well as international commission on radiological protection (ICRP) Publication 89.

DATA FORMAT AND USAGE NOTES

Voxelized phantoms are accessible in DAT format as raw data, which can be opened by medical imaging softwares such as a medical image data analysis tool (AMIDE). Excel files contain descriptive information (ages, genders, phantom sizes, voxel sizes, organ masses, densities) and organ absorbed doses on18 F - F D G $^{18}F-FDG$ application. All data in this study can be obtained from our official website (https://alldigitaltwins.com) and Zenodo (https://zenodo.org/records/14268606).

POTENTIAL APPLICATIONS

This work offers a collection of open-source age-dependent phantoms featuring anatomical data specific to the Chinese population. Researchers can utilize this dataset to modify and adapt the phantoms for specific applications, fostering innovation and progress, and enhancing accuracy and applicability in various fields.

Patient-specific radiation dose for Chinese pediatric patients undergoing whole-body PET/CT examinations

Objective.To assess potential variations in the absorbed dose between Chinese and Caucasian children exposed to18F-FDG PET scan and to investigate the factors contributing to dose differences, this work employed patient-specific phantoms and our compartment model for calculating the patient-specific absorbed dose in Chinese children.Approach.Data of 29 Chinese pediatric patients undergoing whole-body18F-FDG PET/CT studies were retrospectively collected, including PET images for activity distributions and corresponding CT images for organ segmentation and phantom construction. A biokinetic compartment model was implemented to obtain cumulated activities. Absorbed radiation dose for both CT and PET component were calculated using Monte Carlo simulations. Regression models were fitted to time integrated activity coefficient (TIAC) and organ absorbed dose for each patient.Main results.TIACs of all the organs in our compartment model and the organ dose for 12 organs were correlated with patients' weight. Young children have significantly large uptake in brain compared to adults. The distinctions of anatomical and biological characteristics between Chinese and Caucasian children contribute to variations in the absorbed dose of18F-FDG PET scans. PET contributed more in organ dose than CT did in most organs, especially in brain and bladder. The average effective dose (± SD) was 4.5 mSv (± 1.12 mSv), 7.8 mSv (± 3.2 mSv) and 12.3 mSv (± 3.5 mSv) from CT, PET and their sum respectively. PET contributed 1.7 times higher than CT.Significance.To the best of our knowledge, this work represents the first attempt to estimate patient-specific radiation doses from PET/CT for Chinese pediatric patients. TIACs derived from our methodology in both age groups exhibited significant differences from the that reported in ICRP 128. Substantial differences in absorbed and effective doses were observed between Chinese and Caucasian children across all age groups. These disparities are attributed to markedly distinct anatomical and pharmacokinetic characteristics among adults and pediatric patients, and different racial groups. The application of data derived from adults to pediatric patients introduces considerable uncertainty. Our methodology offers a valuable approach not only for estimating pharmacokinetic characteristics and patient-specific radiation doses in pediatric patients undergoing18F-FDG studies but also for other cohorts with similar characteristics.

DOSE CALCULATION OF PROTON THERAPY BASED ON MONTE CARLO AND EMPIRICAL FORMULA

In this work, we used the Monte Carlo-based TOPAS simulation software to calculate the ambient dose equivalents and annual effective dose due to the secondary neutron field produced in proton therapy, also we introduced a USTC phantom to access the organ equivalent dose. The ambient dose equivalent and annual effective dose were calculated in several positions of interest inside and outside the facility. The simulation results were compared qualitatively to the results of the Empirical Formula, showing that the Empirical Formula calculations overestimated the dose, 28.95 times higher than the MC simulations, on average, which would lead to over shielding. In addition, the highest equivalent dose rate of a single radiation-sensitive organ simulated by TOPAS was 1.50 × 10-9 mSv/a for the eye lens, 2.36 × 10-3 mSv/a for limbs and 1.01 × 10-3 mSv/a for skin, which also meets the limits. Therefore, MC simulation has great advantages in shielding design and safety evaluation. And this work presents a new method to calculate the dose, introducing a more anthropogenic phantom can get more realistic results.

A high-resolution pediatric female whole-body numerical model with comparison to a male model

Objective. Numerical models are central in designing and testing novel medical devices and in studying how different anatomical changes may affect physiology. Despite the numerous adult models available, there are only a few whole-body pediatric numerical models with significant limitations. In addition, there is a limited representation of both male and female biological sexes in the available pediatric models despite the fact that sex significantly affects body development, especially in a highly dynamic population. As a result, we developed Athena, a realistic female whole-body pediatric numerical model with high-resolution and anatomical detail.Approach. We segmented different body tissues through Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and Computed Tomography (CT) images of a healthy 3.5 year-old female child using 3D Slicer. We validated the high anatomical accuracy segmentation through two experienced sub-specialty-certified neuro-radiologists and the inter and intra-operator variability of the segmentation results comparing sex differences in organ metrics with physiologic values. Finally, we compared Athena with Martin, a similar male model, showing differences in anatomy, organ metrics, and MRI dosimetric exposure.Main results. We segmented 267 tissue compartments, which included 50 brain tissue labels. The tissue metrics of Athena displayed no deviation from the literature value of healthy children. We show the variability of brain metrics in the male and female models. Finally, we offer an example of computing Specific Absorption Rate and Joule heating in a toddler/preschooler at 7 T MRI.Significance. This study introduces a female realistic high-resolution numerical model using MRI and CT scans of a 3.5 year-old female child, the use of which includes but is not limited to radiofrequency safety studies for medical devices (e.g. an implantable medical device safety in MRI), neurostimulation studies, and radiation dosimetry studies. This model will be open source and available on the Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging website.

An update on computational anthropomorphic anatomical models

The prevalent availability of high-performance computing coupled with validated computerized simulation platforms as open-source packages have motivated progress in the development of realistic anthropomorphic computational models of the human anatomy. The main application of these advanced tools focused on imaging physics and computational internal/external radiation dosimetry research. This paper provides an updated review of state-of-the-art developments and recent advances in the design of sophisticated computational models of the human anatomy with a particular focus on their use in radiation dosimetry calculations. The consolidation of flexible and realistic computational models with biological data and accurate radiation transport modeling tools enables the capability to produce dosimetric data reflecting actual setup in clinical setting. These simulation methodologies and results are helpful resources for the medical physics and medical imaging communities and are expected to impact the fields of medical imaging and dosimetry calculations profoundly.

Monte carlo study of organ doses and related risk for cancer in Tanzania from scattered photons in cervical radiation treatment involving Co-60 source

PURPOSE

The present work aimed to evaluate organ doses and related risk for cancer from external beam radiation treatment (EBRT) and high-dose-rate (HDR) brachytherapy (BT) involving Co-60 source for patients with cervical carcinoma in Tanzania based on Monte Carlo methods and to evaluate the secondary cancer risks in their lifetime.

METHODS

EBRT and HDR-BR were modelled by using the MCNPX Monte Carlo (MC) code. The MC simulations were performed by using validated models and isocentric irradiation of an adult female computational phantom. The organ doses and cancer risks estimates were obtained.

RESULTS

The highest absorbed doses of 6.98 × 10^-2 and 5.74 × 10^-2 Sv/Gy were recorded in the bladder for BT and EBRT. The higher risk was found for colon at 1.06 × 10^-3 in the HDR-BT and 9.75 × 10^-5 in the EBRT per 100,000 population at exposure age of 35 years than in the other organs. The risk magnitude decreased with increasing age at exposure. In general, the secondary cancer risks in all sites considered from EBRT and HDR-BR for cervical cancer patient were lower than the baseline risks.

CONCLUSIONS

The chances of developing secondary cancer take years following radiation therapy are extremely low, but the results of present study can support to establish a future database on secondary cancer risks involving radiation therapy in patients with cervical cancer by using HDR-BR and EBRT with Co-60 source in Tanzania and other developing countries.