Use Of Uptake Values To Estimate The Effective Dose To Patients In Positron Emission Tomography

Positron emission tomography (PET) is a diagnostic imaging modality in nuclear medicine. The most common radionuclide in PET is F-18 fluoro deoxyglucose (FDG). In this study we used the information on radionuclide uptake from PET images and software to make an estimation of effective dose received by patients during F-18-FDG PET examination. We analysed data from 50 patients who performed positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET-CT) examination. Uptake values were collected in bladder, bones, heart wall, kidneys, liver, brain and remainder. Using a simplified biokinetic model, residence time was calculated and used as an input parameter in OLINDA/EXM (R) software package. The conversion factor from administered activity to effective dose was found to be 0.016 mSv/MBq, which is only 15% less then value found in literature. The method described in the paper might be suitable in situations when standard calculation models are not adequate.