Retrospective SPECT/CT dosimetry following transarterial radioembolization

Transarterial radioembolization (TARE) effectively treats unresectable primary and metastatic liver tumors through intra-arterial injection of Yttrium-90 (⁹⁰ Y) beta particle emitting microspheres which implant around the tumor. Current dosimetry models are highly simplistic and there is a large need for an image-based dosimetry post-TARE, which would improve treatment safety and efficacy. Current post-TARE imaging is ⁹⁰ Y bremsstrahlung SPECT/CT and we study the use of these images for dosimetry. Retrospective image review of ten patients having a Philips Healthcare^TM SPECT/CT following TARE SIR-Spheres® implantation. Emission series with attenuation correction were resampled to 3 mm resolution and used to create image-based dose distributions. Dose distributions and analysis were performed in MIM Software SurePlan^TM utilizing SurePlan^TM Local Deposition Method (LDM) and a dose convolution method (WFBH). We sought to implement a patient-specific background subtraction prior to dose calculation to make these noisy bremsstrahlung SPECT images suitable for post-TARE dosimetry. On average the percentage of mean background counts to maximum count in the image across all patients was 9.4 ± 4.9% (maximum = 7.6%, minimum = 2.3%). Absolute dose increased and profile line width decreased as background subtraction value increased. The average value of the LDM and WFBH dose methods was statistically the same. As background subtraction value increased, the DVH curves become unrealistic and distorted. Background subtraction on bremsstrahlung SPECT image has a large effect on post-TARE dosimetry. The background contour defined provides a systematic estimate to the activity background that accounts for the scanner and patient conditions at the time of the image study and is easily implemented using commercially available software. Using the mean count in the background contour as a subtraction across the entire image gave the most realistic dose distributions. This methodology is independent of microsphere and software manufacturer allowing for use with any available products or tools.