The Impact of Image Reconstruction Parameters on TARE Treatment Dosimetric Calculation

Abstract

Accurate dosimetric calculations are essential to enhance therapeutic efficacy in Yttrium-90 (Y-90) microsphere therapy, which rely significantly on the three-dimensional imaging parameters used. This study aims to evaluate the reconstruction parameters used to generate three-dimensional images from SPECT data obtained for dosimetric calculations, and to determine the optimal reconstruction parameters. This retrospective study evaluated Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography/Computed Tomography (SPECT/CT) images of 30 patients (8 women and 22 men) who underwent Transarterial Radioembolization (TARE) treatment at our clinic between 2018 and 2019 using Technetium 99mTc-labeled macroaggregated albumin (99mTc-MAA). The SPECT images were reconstructed using 20 different iterations and subset values. The perfused areas were identified using 5% and 10% threshold values. At the 5% threshold, the maximum difference from the average was 20.7% at 2 iterations and 2 subsets. For other parameters, the difference from the average was less than 2.8%. At the 10% threshold, the maximum difference from the average was 14.8% at 2 iterations and 2 subsets, with other parameters again showing a difference of less than 2.8%. For effective TARE treatment, it is recommended to set the SPECT image reconstruction parameters to higher than 5 iterations and 5 subsets following the administration of 99mTc-MAA.