Evaluation of radiation dose to pediatric models from whole body PET/CT imaging

Positron emission tomography (PET)/computed tomography (CT) is a well-known modality for the diagnosis of various diseases in children and adult patients. On the other hand, younger patients are more radiosensitive than adults, so there are concerns about the level of ionizing radiation exposure in pediatric whole body PET/CT imaging. In this regard, comprehensive specific radiation dosimetry for whole body PET/CT imaging is highly desired for different ages, sizes, and shapes. Therefore, in this study, organ absorbed doses were evaluated for pediatric voxel models from 4 to 14 years old and compared with those of ICRP phantoms. Monte Carlo calculation was performed to evaluate S-value, absorbed dose, and effective dose from ¹⁸ F-FDG radiotracers and whole body CT scan for different computational models, including 4- to 14-year-old phantoms. The results showed that the S-value and, therefore, absorbed dose of ¹⁸ F-FDG strongly depended on the phantom anatomy. These variations were justified by the distance between source and target organs. Moreover, on average, the absorbed doses from whole body CT scans were 13.5 times lower than those from ¹⁸ F-FDG for all organs. According to the results, various anatomies and ages should be considered for accurate dose evaluation. These data can be used for specific risk assessment of the pediatric population in clinical nuclear imaging.