Study of the Impact of Tissue Density Heterogeneities on 3-Dimensional Abdominal Dosimetry: Comparison Between Dose Kernel Convolution and Direct Monte Carlo Methods

Dose kernel convolution (DK) methods have been proposed to speed up absorbed dose calculations in molecular radionuclide therapy. Our aim was to evaluate the impact of tissue density heterogeneities (TDH) on dosimetry when using a DK method and to propose a simple density-correction method. Methods: This study has been conducted on 3 clinical cases: case 1, non-Hodgkin lymphoma treated with 131I-tositumomab; case 2, a neuroendocrine tumor treatment simulated with 177Lu-peptides; and case 3, hepatocellular carcinoma treated with 90Y-micro-spheres. Absorbed dose calculations were performed using a direct Monte Carlo approach accounting for TDH (3D-RD), and a DK approach (VoxelDose, or VD). For each individual voxel, the VD absorbed dose, DVD, calculated assuming uniform density, was corrected for density, giving DVDd. The average 3D-RD absorbed dose values, D3DRD, were compared wit