RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 RADAR Realistic Animal Model Series for Dose Assessment JF Journal of Nuclear Medicine JO J Nucl Med FD Society of Nuclear Medicine SP 471 OP 476 DO 10.2967/jnumed.109.070532 VO 51 IS 3 A1 Mary A. Keenan A1 Michael G. Stabin A1 William P. Segars A1 Michael J. Fernald YR 2010 UL http://jnm.snmjournals.org/content/51/3/471.abstract AB Rodent species are widely used in the testing and approval of new radiopharmaceuticals, necessitating murine phantom models. As more therapy applications are being tested in animal models, calculating accurate dose estimates for the animals themselves becomes important to explain and control potential radiation toxicity or treatment efficacy. Historically, stylized and mathematically based models have been used for establishing doses to small animals. Recently, a series of anatomically realistic human phantoms was developed using body models based on nonuniform rational B-spline. Realistic digital mouse whole-body (MOBY) and rat whole-body (ROBY) phantoms were developed on the basis of the same NURBS technology and were used in this study to facilitate dose calculations in various species of rodents. Methods: Voxel-based versions of scaled MOBY and ROBY models were used with the Vanderbilt multinode computing network (Advanced Computing Center for Research and Education), using geometry and tracking radiation transport codes to calculate specific absorbed fractions (SAFs) with internal photon and electron sources. Photon and electron SAFs were then calculated for relevant organs in all models. Results: The SAF results were compared with values from similar studies found in reference literature. Also, the SAFs were used with standardized decay data to develop dose factors to be used in radiation dose calculations. Representative plots were made of photon electron SAFs, evaluating the traditional assumption that all electron energy is absorbed in the source organs. Conclusion: The organ masses in the MOBY and ROBY models are in reasonable agreement with models presented by other investigators noting that considerable variation can occur between reported masses. Results consistent with those found by other investigators show that absorbed fractions for electrons for organ self-irradiation were significantly less than 1.0 at energies above 0.5 MeV, as expected for many of these small-sized organs, and measurable cross-irradiation was observed for many organ pairs for high-energy electrons (as would be emitted by nuclides such as 32P, 90Y, or 188Re).