A Step toward Simplified Dosimetry of Radiopharmaceutical Therapy via SPECT Frame Duration Reduction

Despite being time-consuming, SPECT/CT data is necessary for accurate dosimetry in patient-specific radiopharmaceutical therapy. We investigated how reducing the frame duration (FD) during SPECT acquisition can simplify the dosimetry workflow for [177Lu]Lu-PSMA radioligand therapy (RLT). We aimed to determine the impact of shortened acquisition times on dosimetric precision. Three SPECT scans with FD of 20, 10, and 5 seconds/frame (sec/fr) were obtained 48 hours post-RLT from one metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) patient's pelvis. Planar images at 4, 48, and 72 hours post-therapy were used to calculate time-integrated activities (TIAs). Using accurate activity calibrations and GATE Monte Carlo (MC) dosimetry, absorbed doses in tumor lesions and kidneys were estimated. Dosimetry precision was assessed by comparing shorter FD results to the 20 sec/fr reference using relative percentage difference (RPD). We observed consistent calibration factors (CFs) across different FDs. Using the same CF, we obtained marginal RPD deviations less than 4% for the right kidney and tumor lesions and less than 7% for the left kidney. By reducing FD, simulation time was slightly decreased. This study shows we can shorten SPECT acquisition time in RLT dosimetry by reducing FD without sacrificing dosimetry accuracy. These findings pave the way for streamlined personalized internal dosimetry workflows.