Improved Dosimetry Measurement in Theraputic Radionuclide Therapy using Monte-Carlo Simulation

在这笔赠款中，我们将开发一种更准确的方法来处理接受癌症治疗的患者的医学图像，这种方法使用针对肿瘤的放射性材料，称为靶向放射性核素治疗。这些图像是使用SPECT(单光子发射计算机断层扫描)扫描仪拍摄的，通常会产生相当模糊和噪声的图像。通过在计算机上模拟SPECT扫描仪系统，我们可以创建一系列校正，这将提高从这些图像获取信息的准确性。这些信息最终将被用来为治疗患者的医生提供对肿瘤和患者身体其他部位的辐射剂量的准确测量。使用目前的SPECT图像，剂量估计中的不确定性不允许优化治疗，因此很大一部分患者没有接受最佳治疗。由于目前剂量测量的准确性较低，尤其是肾脏和骨髓，这往往是剂量限制的器官，因此对这些患者的识别是有问题的。拥有这种改进的剂量信息可以帮助医生改进他们的治疗方法，并计划减少副作用和潜在减少住院时间的治疗。这将改善患者对这种类型治疗的体验，并通过允许医生为每个患者个体化治疗来提高治疗效果。只有提高从SPECT扫描仪获得的图像的准确性，我们才能提供这些信息。在欧洲各国，准确的剂量信息被认为是非常重要的，正在制定立法，建议对每一位接受这种治疗的患者这样做。我们的研究将集中在改善使用同位素177Lu治疗的剂量信息。最近的研究表明，与先天性疗法相比，使用这种同位素的新疗法可以将患者的预期寿命延长几年，特别是对影响荷尔蒙和神经系统的肿瘤。我们的研究将为开发一种商业解决方案提供基础，使这笔赠款中的技术可以用于所有使用这些放射性材料进行癌症治疗的临床部门。它可以扩展到用于治疗的所有同位素和来自不同型号SPECT扫描仪的图像。这将大大改善欧洲每年估计进行的20.1万例此类治疗的结果。

In this grant we will develop a more accurate way of processing medical images from patients receiving cancer therapy using radioactive materials that target their tumours, known as Targeted radionuclide therapy. These images are taken using a SPECT (Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography) scanner which typically produces images which are quite blurry and noisy. By modelling the SPECT scanner system on a computer we can create a range of corrections which will improve the accuracy of the information from these images. This information will ultimately be used to provide doctors treating patients with an accurate measurement of the radiation dose delivered to the tumours and also to the rest of the patient's body. Using current SPECT images, the uncertainties in dose estimation do not allow treatments to be optimised and consequently a significant proportion of patients do not receive the optimal therapy. Identification of these patients is problematic due to the current low accuracy of dose measurements, especially in the kidney and bone marrow which are often the dose limiting organs. Having this improved dose information can help doctors to improve their therapies and plan for treatments with reduced side effects and potentially reduced hospital stays. This will improve the patients' experience of this type of therapy and also improve the efficacy of the therapies by allowing the doctors to individualise the treatment for each patient. Only by improving the accuracy of the images obtained from the SPECT scanner can we provide this information. Accurate dose information is considered very important in countries across Europe and legislation is being written recommending this be done for every patient receiving this type of treatment. Our research will concentrate on improving the dose information for therapies using the isotope 177Lu. Recent work has shown that new treatments using this isotope can improve a patient's life expectancy by several years compared to congenital therapies, particularly for tumours effecting the hormonal and nervous systems. Our research will provide the basis for developing a commercial solution which will allow the techniques from this grant to be used in all clinical departments performing cancer therapy with these radioactive materials. It can be extended to cover the complete range of isotopes used for therapy and for images from different models of SPECT scanner. This will provide a significant improvement in the outcome of an estimated 201,000 such therapies performed annually in Europe.