Standardized biodistribution template for dosimetry collection and reporting

Objectives As the field of Nuclear Medicine moves forward with efforts to integrate radiation dosimetry into clinical practice we can identify the challenge posed by the lack of standardized dose calculation methods and protocols. This problem arises because even with common use of MIRD methodology, the specific implementation of acquiring and utilizing dosimetry data varies among users. All personalized internal dosimetry is derived by projecting biodistribution measurements into dosimetry calculations. In an effort to standardize organization of data and its reporting, we have developed, as a sequel to the EANM recommendation of “Good Dosimetry Reporting”, a freely available biodistribution template, which can be used to create a common point of reference for dosimetry data. It can be disseminated, interpreted, and used for method development widely across the field.

Methods A generalized biodistribution template was built in a comma delineated format (.csv) to be completed by users performing biodistribution measurements. As of May 1st, 2015, the template will be available for free download at http://bitly.com/IAEA-BDT. The download site includes instructions and other usage details on the template. The format of .csv was chosen as it can be easily edited by commercial spreadsheet software, while it can also be parsed easily by researchers or other developers interested in creating software tools to handle data. Examples of completed spreadsheets (I-131 radioiodine therapy, Lu-177 DOTATOC, Y-90 microspheres) are also available on the download site.

Results This is a new resource developed for the community. It is our hope that users will consider integrating it into their dosimetry operations. Having biodistribution data available and easily accessible for all patients processed is a strategy for organizing large amounts of information. It may enable users to create their own databases that can be analyzed for multiple aspects of dosimetry operations. Furthermore it enables population data to easily be reprocessed using different dosimetry methodologies, for example to accommodate different organ volume scaling assumptions. With respect to dosimetry-related research and publications, the biodistribution template can be included as supplementary material, and will allow others in the community to better compare calculations and results achieved.

Conclusions As dosimetry in nuclear medicine become more routinely applied in clinical applications, we, as a field, need to develop the infrastructure for handling large amounts of data. Our organ level biodistribution template can be used as a standard format for data collection. It can support organization of data within a center, including the formation of dosimetry data bases. It can also be used to support more robust reporting of research studies. Beyond organization and presentation of data, those interested may be enabled to develop dosimetry tools, integrated with the template, which can be easily disseminated to users in the community. For example this approach may support easy application of error calculation in biodistribution measurements, curve fitting, and populations, and its propagation to dosimetry calculations.