Use of Uptake Values to Estimate the Effective Dose to Patients in Positron Emission Tomography

Positron emission tomography (PET) is a diagnostic imaging modality in nuclear medicine. The most common radionuclide in PET is 18F fluoro deoxyglucose (FDG). In this study we used the information on radionuclide uptake from PET images and software to make an estimation of effective dose received by patients during 18F-FDG PET examination. We analysed data from 50 patients who performed positron emission tomography—computed tomography (PET-CT) examination. Uptake values were collected in bladder, bones, heart wall, kidneys, liver, brain and remainder. Using a simplified biokinetic model, residence time was calculated and used as an input parameter in OLINDA/EXM® software package. The conversion factor from administered activity to effective dose was found to be \( 0.016\frac{{{\text{mSv}}}}{{{\text{MBq}}}} \), which is only 15% less then value found in literature. The method described in the paper might be suitable in situations when standard calculation models are not adequate.