Comparison of Average Absorbed Dose Distributions of Organs in SPECT-CT Imaging Using Monte Carlo Simulation

Abstract

Purpose: The use of ionizing radiation in medical research, treatment, and diagnosis is inevitable and expanding day by day. Meanwhile, in two modes of Computed Tomography (CT) and Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT) imaging, the dose received by the organs is featured with limitations and problems, which are often referred to as the CT Dose Index volume (CTDIvol.) and the Dose Length Product (DLP). This study aimed to estimate the average dose of organs and compare them in each of these two modalities. Materials and Methods: Using the GATE code to simulate the SPECT-CT system and the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) voxelized phantom as the patient was investigated. The mean dose distribution in three groups of children, adults, and obese people with different body thicknesses was estimated. The dose received by each of the two systems was evaluated separately and results were discussed and analyzed comparatively. Results: In the kidney, bladder, intestine, colon, liver, and gallbladder, the dose received in CT is at least 10% more than nuclear medicine. For example, the ratio of the dose received in CT to the dose received in nuclear medicine in the lung was about 1.08 and in the esophagus was about 1.24. Subsequently, the ratio increased to 0.25 in the bladder and 0.19 in the colon and intestine. Moreover, the major organs that received the maximum dose, result in CT at least 10% more than nuclear medicine. Conclusion: The dose received in organs such as the esophagus, breast, and lung during CT imaging protocol and also maximum dose were at least ten percent more than nuclear medicine.