Preclinical Voxel-Based Dosimetry in Theranostics: a Review

Area of Science:

• Nuclear medicine
• Medical physics
• Radiopharmaceutical science

Background:

• Preclinical targeted radionuclide therapy (TRT) relies on accurate absorbed dose estimation.
• Voxel-level dosimetry using Monte Carlo (MC) simulations is essential for preclinical theranostics.
• Current MC methods are precise but computationally intensive, limiting daily application.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review current voxel-based dosimetry methods in preclinical TRT.
• To discuss the necessity of accurate and rapid dosimetry techniques.
• To optimize dose computation time for preclinical TRT.

Main Methods:

• Review of existing literature on voxel-based dosimetry in preclinical studies.
• Analysis of Monte Carlo (MC) simulation techniques for absorbed dose calculations.
• Discussion of computational demands and precision of different dosimetry approaches.

Main Results:

• Direct MC (DMC) simulations offer high precision by accounting for tissue heterogeneities.
• Voxel-based dosimetry is critical for interpreting radiobiological dose-response relationships.
• Existing MC methods are accurate but time-consuming and computationally demanding.

Conclusions:

• Accurate voxel-based dosimetry is vital for advancing preclinical TRT and theranostics.
• There is a significant need for faster, more efficient dosimetry methods.
• Optimizing dose computation time is key for practical pretherapy absorbed dose calculations.