Doctoral Degrees (Medical Physics)

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Browsing Doctoral Degrees (Medical Physics) by Subject "Dosimetry"

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    Accuracy of patient-specific dosimetry using hybrid planar-SPECT/CT imaging: a Monte Carlo study
    (University of the Free State, 2021-07) Morphis, Michaella; Van Staden, J. A.; Du Raan, H.; Du Plessis, F. C. P.
    Introduction: Theragnostics is a precision medical discipline aiming to individualise patient targeted treatment. It aims at treating cancer by the systemic administration of a therapeutic radiopharmaceutical, which targets specific cells based on the labelling molecule. With the renewed interest in radiopharmaceutical therapy, the importance of accurate image quantification using iodine-123 (I-123) and iodine-131 (I-131), for dosimetry purposes, has been re-emphasised. Monte Carlo (MC) modelling techniques have been used extensively in Nuclear Medicine (NM), playing an essential role in modelling gamma cameras for the assessment of activity quantification accuracy, which is vital for accurate dosimetry. This thesis aimed to assess the accuracy of patient-specific I-131 dosimetry using hybrid whole-body (WB) planar-SPECT/CT imaging. The study was based on MC simulations of voxel-based digital phantoms, using the SIMIND MC code emulating the Siemens SymbiaTM T16 gamma camera. To achieve the aim, the thesis was divided into four objectives, (i) validating the accuracy of an energy resolution (ER) model, (ii) verifying the SIMIND setup for simulation of static, WB planar and SPECT images for I-123 with a low energy high resolution (LEHR) and a medium energy (ME) collimator and for I-131 with a high energy (HE) collimator, (iii) evaluating SPECT quantification accuracy for the three radionuclide- collimator combinations and (iv) assessing the accuracy of I-131 absorbed dose calculations for tumours and organs at risk, based on hybrid WB planar-SPECT/CT imaging. Methodology: The proposed ER model was fit to measured ER values (between 27.0 and 637.0 keV) as a function of photon energy. Measured and simulated energy spectra (in-air, in-scatter and a voxel-based digital patient phantom) were compared. The SIMIND setup was validated by comparing measured and simulated static and WB planar (extrinsic energy spectra, system sensitivity and system spatial resolution in-air and in-scatter), as well as SPECT (simple geometry sensitivity) results. Quantification accuracy was assessed in voxel- based digital simple and patient phantoms, using optimised OS-EM iterative reconstruction updates, calibration factor and recovery curves. Finally, using the true and quantitative activity data from I-123 and I-131 voxel-based digital patient phantoms, full MC radiation transport was performed, to determine the accuracy of the absorbed dose for I-131-mIBG radiopharmaceutical therapy. Results: The fitted ER model better simulated the energy response of the gamma camera, especially for high energy photopeaks, (I-123: 528.9 keV and I-131: 636.9 keV). The measured and simulated system energy spectra (differences ≤ 4.6 keV), system sensitivity (differences ≤ 6.9%), system spatial resolution (differences ≤ 6.4%) and SPECT validation results (difference ≤ 3.6%) compared well. Quantification errors less than 6.0% were obtained when appropriate corrections were applied. I-123 LEHR and I-123 ME quantification accuracies compared well (when corrections for septal scatter and penetration are applied), which can be useful in departments that perform I-123 studies and may not have access to ME collimators. Average I-131 absorbed doses of 2.0 ± 0.4 mGy/MBq (liver), 20.1 ± 4.0 mGy/MBq (3.0 cm tumour) and 22.6 ± 4.2 mGy/MBq (5.0 cm tumour) were obtained in simulated patient studies. When using a novel method of replacing the reconstructed activity distribution with a uniform activity distribution, eliminating the Gibbs artefact, the dosimetry accuracy was within 10.5%. Conclusion: Using the proposed fitted ER model, SIMIND could be used to accurately simulate static and WB planar and SPECT projection images of the Siemens SymbiaTM T16 SPECT/CT for both I-123 and I-131 with their respective collimators. Accurate quantification resulted in absorbed dose accuracies within 10.5%. The hybrid WB planar-SPECT/CT dosimetry method proved effective for personalised treatment planning of I-131 radiopharmaceutical therapy, with either I-123 or I-131 diagnostic imaging.