Journal of Nuclear Engineering & Technology Original Research

MIRDcalc & OLINDA/EXM Dosimetry Software Analysis by SPECT/CT Scan Data of Lu-177 DOTATATE Radionuclide Therapy of NET Patients

  1. Madhulika Mehrotra Mehrotra Department of Nuclear Medicine, AIIMS, Ansari Nagar East
  2. Prashant Mishra Department of Nuclear Medicine, AIIMS, Ansari Nagar East.
  3. Saurabh Sharma Department of Nuclear Medicine, AIIMS, Ansari Nagar East
  4. Preethi Deenadayalan Mediso, Nuclear Medsystems India Pvt Ltd

Abstract

Accurate dosimetry is essential in nuclear medicine for optimizing radionuclide therapies and ensuring patient safety. In Radiopharmaceutical dosimetry the Medical Internal Radiation Dosimetry (MIRD)Society is the pioneer in organ-level dosimetry providing the fundamental basis for commonly used clinical and research dosimetry software like MIRDOSE and OLINDA/EXM. Recently, in MIRD Pamphlet No. 28, Part 1, the MIRD committee of the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Medical Imaging presented a new Software Tool; MIRDcalc, for organ-level and sub-organ tissue dosimetry, based on a standard Excel spreadsheet platform to enhance personalized internal dosimetry. This study evaluates and compares the internal dosimetry software MIRDcalc and OLINDA/EXM for calculating absorbed and effective doses in neuroendocrine tumor (NET) patients treated with Lutetium-177 DOTATATE, based on quantitative SPECT/CT imaging data. MIRDcalc, a freely accessible Excel-based dosimetry tool, integrates updated anatomical models, user-friendly interfaces, and quality control utilities. Its performance was assessed against OLINDA/EXM, a widely used commercial software, and benchmarked using the standardized absorbed radiation dose calculation equations, described in MIRD primer 2022. Dose estimates for key organs were derived using both platforms, and results demonstrated a high level of concordance between the two methodologies. Minor discrepancies in absorbed dose values were attributed to differences in underlying phantom models, organ definitions, and dose calculation algorithms. The analysis underscores MIRDcalc’s viability as a research-grade tool for personalized dosimetry, offering comparable accuracy to established systems like OLINDA/EXM. Future work should focus on expanding personalized dosimetry, especially for Lu177 DOTATATE, NET patients for Radionuclide therapy capabilities and validating models across broader clinical datasets.

Keywords

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