Influence on voxel-based dosimetry: noise effect on absorbed dose dosimetry at single time-point versus sequential single-photon emission computed tomography

Abstract

Objective The purpose of this study was to evaluate how statistical fluctuation in single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) images propagate to absorbed dose maps. Methods SPECT/computed tomography (CT) images of iodine-131 filled phantoms, using different acquisition and processing protocols, were evaluated using STRATOS software to assess the absorbed dose distribution at the voxel level. Absorbed dose values and coefficient of variation (COV) were analyzed for dosimetry based on single time-point SPECT images and time-integrated activities of SPECT sequences with low and high counts. Results Considering dosimetry based on a single time-point, the mean absorbed dose was not significantly affected by total counts or reconstruction parameters, but the uniformity of the absorbed dose maps had an almost linear correlation with SPECT noise. When high- and low-count SPECT sequences were used to generate an absorbed dose map, the absorbed dose COV for each of the temporal sequences was slightly lower than the absorbed dose COV based on the single SPECT image with the highest count included in the sequence. Conclusion The impact of changes in SPECT counts and reconstruction parameters is almost linear when dosimetry is based on isolated SPECT images, but less pronounced when dosimetry is based on sequential SPECTs.