Fast skin dose estimation system for interventional radiology

Abstract

To minimise the radiation dermatitis related to interventional radiology (IR), rapid and accurate dose estimation has been sought for all procedures. We propose a technique for estimating the patient skin dose rapidly and accurately using Monte Carlo (MC) simulation with a graphical processing unit (GPU, GTX 1080; Nvidia Corp.). The skin dose distribution is simulated based on an individual patient’s computed tomography (CT) dataset for fluoroscopic conditions after the CT dataset has been segmented into air, water and bone based on pixel values. The skin is assumed to be one layer at the outer surface of the body. Fluoroscopic conditions are obtained from a log file of a fluoroscopic examination. Estimating the absorbed skin dose distribution requires calibration of the dose simulated by our system. For this purpose, a linear function was used to approximate the relation between the simulated dose and the measured dose using radiophotoluminescence (RPL) glass dosimeters in a water-equivalent phantom. Differences of maximum skin dose between our system and the Particle and Heavy Ion Transport code System (PHITS) were as high as 6.1%. The relative statistical error (2 σ) for the simulated dose obtained using our system was ≤3.5%. Using a GPU, the simulation on the chest CT dataset aiming at the heart was within 3.49 s on average: the GPU is 122 times faster than a CPU (Core i7–7700K; Intel Corp.). Our system (using the GPU, the log file, and the CT dataset) estimated the skin dose more rapidly and more accurately than conventional methods.

Immersive Radiation Experience for Interventional Radiology with Virtual Reality Radiation Dose Visualization Using Fast Monte Carlo Dose Estimation

“…Before VR visualization, air and skin dose distributions in IR were estimated using the fast dose estimation system for IR (FDEIR), which uses a GPU to estimate the dose distribution through Monte Carlo simulation. It suppresses electron transport to accelerate calculations [14]. Then, VR-DVS loads and visualizes these dose distributions in a virtual IR room.…”

“…Unfortunately, standard Monte Carlo packages are too slow for calculations that support ready visualization. In this study, we calculated the air dose using FDEIR [14], which uses GPU computing to simulate the absorbed dose very quickly.…”

“…The Virtual Reality Dose Visualization System (VR-DVS). It is based on Monte Carlo dose simulation running on a graphical processing unit (GPU) [14,15]. Using GPU calculation reduces calculation costs drastically, even for simulations that incorporate calculations for lead shielding.…”

First experience of 192Ir source stuck event during high-dose-rate brachytherapy in Japan

“…The simulation of the dose rate distribution was performed using the air dose estimation system (Fast Dose Estimation system for Interventional Radiology: FDEIR), which was developed by Takata et al [11]. The FDEIR system comprises a Monte Carlo method on a graphic processing unit to reduce computation time and the PE-NELOPE 2006 package for photon transport models.…”

“…The FDEIR system comprises a Monte Carlo method on a graphic processing unit to reduce computation time and the PE-NELOPE 2006 package for photon transport models. This system enabled the rapid and accurate estimation of the patient's skin or air dose in the low energy range [11].…”