Title: Radiation dosimetry for thyroid cancer patients and validation using 3D printing phantoms

Authors: M.M. Emad El-din; Eman Massoud; Ahmed Yousry El-Agamawi; A.M. Kany; M.R. Ezz El-din

Addresses: Radiation Protection Department, Division of Radiation Control, Egyptian Nuclear and Radiological Regulatory Authority (ENRRA), Cairo, Egypt ' Jeddah International College (JIC), Jeddah, Saudi Arabia ' Oncology Department, Faculty of Medicine, AlAzhar University, Cairo, Egypt ' Physics Department, Faculty of Science, AlAzhar University, Cairo, Egypt ' Radiation Protection Department, Division of Radiation Control, Egyptian Nuclear and Radiological Regulatory Authority (ENRRA), Cairo, Egypt

Abstract: This research presents the external radiation exposure resulting from Well Differentiated Thyroid Cancer (WDTC) patients after receiving radioiodine (I-131) activities orally and its decay as a function of time. Dose rates were recorded at different time post-administration using a survey meter for 86 thyroidectomised WDTC patients during follow-up diagnosis procedures and during radiotherapy hospitalisation period. Afterwards, a 3D phantom was designed based on Computed Tomography (CT) images to validate the external exposure. Retained activities were found to be 32.1, 13.7, 6.3 and 3.1% within 24, 48, 72 and 96 h respectively. The measurements acquired from the 3D phantom were 14.3:18.1% higher than real patients. Dose rates were less than 10 µSv/h at 3 m distance that is considered safe distance from patients during diagnosis procedures. The administrated activity decays via bi-exponential relation with time, and it is recommended to quarantine patients undergoing post-operative radiotherapy for 36 hours post-administration at least.

Keywords: radioiodine-131; the external radiation exposure; WDTC dosimetry; 3D printing; radiotheranostics.

DOI: 10.1504/IJNEST.2020.117704

International Journal of Nuclear Energy Science and Technology, 2020 Vol.14 No.4, pp.339 - 351

Received: 09 Oct 2020
Accepted: 02 Jun 2021
Published online: 21 Sep 2021 *

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