Averaging of absorbed doses: How matter matters.

BACKGROUND: Dosimetry in radionuclide therapy often requires the calculation of average absorbed doses within and between spatial regions, for example, for voxel-based dosimetry methods, for paired organs, or across multiple tumors. Formation of such averages can be made in different ways, starting from different definitions. PURPOSE: The aim of this study is to formally specify different averaging strategies for absorbed doses, and to compare their results when applied to absorbed dose distributions that are non-uniform within and between regions. METHODS: For averaging within regions, two definitions of the average absorbed dose are considered: the simple average over the region (the region average) and the average when weighting by the mass density (density-weighted region average). The latter is shown to follow from the definition of mean absorbed dose according to the ICRU, and to be consistent with the MIRD formalism. For averaging between different spatial regions, three definitions follow: the volume-weighted, the mass-weighted, and the unweighted average. With respect to characterizing non-uniformity, the different average definitions lead to the use of dose-volume histograms (DVHs) (region average), dose-mass histograms (DMHs) (density-weighted region average), and unweighted histograms (unweighted average). Average absorbed doses are calculated for three worked examples, starting from the different definitions. The first, schematic, example concerns the calculation of the average absorbed dose between two regions with different volumes or mass densities. The second, stylized, example concerns voxel-based dosimetry, for which the average absorbed-dose rate within a region is calculated. The geometries studied include three 177 Lu-filled voxelized spheres, where the sphere masses are held constant while the material compositions, densities, and volumes are varied. For comparison, the mean absorbed-dose rates obtained using unit-density sphere S-values are also included. The third example concerns SPECT/CT-based tumor dosimetry for five patients undergoing therapy with 177 Lu-PSMA and six patients undergoing therapy with 177 Lu-DOTA-TATE, for which the average absorbed-dose rates across multiple tumors are calculated. For the second and third examples, analyses also include representations by histograms. RESULTS: Example 1 shows that the average absorbed doses, calculated using different definitions, can differ considerably if the masses and absorbed doses for two regions are markedly different. From example 2 it is seen that the density-weighted region average is stable under different activity and density distributions and is also in line with results using S-values. In contrast, the region average varies as function of the activity distribution. In example 3, the absorbed dose rates for individual tumors differ by (1.1 ± 4.3)% and (-0.1 ± 0.4)% with maximum deviations of +34.4% and -1.4% for 177 Lu-PSMA and 177 Lu-DOTA-TATE, respectively, when calculated as region averages or density-weighted region averages, with largest deviations obtained when the density is non-uniform. The average absorbed doses calculated across all tumors are similar when comparing mass-weighted and volume-weighted averages but these differ substantially from unweighted averages. CONCLUSION: Different strategies for averaging of absorbed doses within and between regions can lead to substantially different absorbed-dose estimates. At reporting of radionuclide therapy dosimetry, it is important to specify the averaging strategy applied.

Development of measurement method using TLD for workers occupation personally exposed to 125Ⅰ seed source in the implant / 中华放射医学与防护杂志

Objective To explore the method for measuring and calculating both absorbed dose and effective dose received in organ and tissues of occupational workers by using TLDs for the implantation of 125Ⅰ seed sources.Methods The experiments with 60Co γ-rays were carried out for the stability.A group of TLD chips was exposed to 125Ⅰ seed sources to establish standard dose curve for air kerma.During the 125Ⅰ seed implantation, the TLD chips were pasted to 13 locations like thyroid inside and outside the lead aprons worn by occupational workers to measure average absorbed dose and calculate the absorbed doses and effectives to organs and tissues.Results For 3 cases of prostate cancers with implantation of 125Ⅰ seeds, the worker's organs and tissues received the absorbed dose 0.02 -3.80 μ Gy and effective dose 0.06- 1.81 μSv outside lead aprons and the highest absorbed dose 2.35 μ Gy and effective 0.02 μSv inside lead aprons, respectively, with more than 65.9% of rays shielded.For 3 cases of brain cancers with implantation of 125Ⅰ seeds, the workers received the absorbed dose 0.23 - 11.31 μGy and effective dose 0.88 - 4.07 μSv outside lead aprons and the highest absorbed dose 2.22 μ Gy and effective dose 0.09 μSv inside lead aprons, respectively, with more than 54.5% of rays shielded.For 3 cases of lung cancers with implantation of 125Ⅰ seeds, the workers received the absorbed dose 0.03 - 14.78 μGy and effective dose 0.35 -7.59 μSv outside lead aprons and the highest absorbed dose 4.09 μGy and effective 0.22 μSv inside lead aprons, respectively, with more than 58.4% of rays shielded.For 2 cases of mediastinum cancers with implantation of 125Ⅰseeds, the workers received the absorbed dose 0.06 - 74.91 μGy and effective dose 0.83 - 17.96 μSv outside lead aprons and the highest absorbed dose 10.29 μGy and effective 0.5 μSv inside lead aprons, respectively, with more than 85% of rays shielded.For one case of ovary cancer with implantation of 125Ⅰ seeds, the worker received the absorbed dose 0.09 - 14.29 μGy and effective dose 2.40 - 4.50 μSv outside lead aprons and the highest absorbed dose 7.77 μGy and effective 0.12 μSv inside lead aprons, respectively, with more than 34% of rays shielded.For one case of eye cancer with implantation of 125Ⅰ seeds, the workers received the absorbed dose 2.2 -39.84 μGy and effective dose 4.48 - 10.06 μSv outside aprons and the highest absorbed dose 5.19 μGy and effective 0.16 μSv inside aprons, respectively, with more than 54.6 % of rays shielded.Conclusions The method of using TLDs to measure the doses to the occupational workers in the course of the implantation of 125Ⅰ seed sources is simple and easy to operate.It would be an effective approach to protecting medical workers in the case of brachytherapy.