In Vivo 3-D Dose Verification Using PET/CT Images After Carbon-Ion Radiation Therapy

Objective To investigate the usefulness of positron emission tomography (PET) images obtained after carbon-ion irradiation for dose verification in carbon-ion radiotherapy. Methods and Materials An anthropomorphic head phantom was used in this study. Three cubes with volumes of 1, 4, and 10 ml were contoured as targets in the phantom CT through a treatment planning system. Treatment plans with six prescriptions from 2.5 to 10 Gy (2.5, 3, 5, 6, 8, and 10 Gy effective dose) were designed and delivered by 90 degrees fixed carbon-ion beams, respectively. After irradiation of the phantom, a PET/CT scan was performed to fuse the treatment-planning CT image with the PET/CT image. The relationship between target volume and the standard uptake value (SUV) in PET/CT was evaluated for corresponding plan prescription. The MIM Maestro software was used for the image fusion and data analysis. Results SUV in the target had an approximate linear relationship with the effective dose. The same effective dose could generate a roughly equal SUV for different target volumes (p < 0.05). Conclusions It is feasible to verify the actual 3-D dose distribution of carbon-ion radiotherapy by the approach in this study.