Impact of the dead-time correction method on quantitative (177)Lu-SPECT (QSPECT) and dosimetry during radiopharmaceutical therapy

BACKGROUND: Dead-time correction is required for accurate quantitative SPECT-based dosimetry in the context of personalised (177)Lu radiopharmaceutical therapy. We aimed to evaluate the impact of applying dead-time correction on the reconstructed SPECT image versus on the acquisition projections before reconstruction. METHODS: Data from 16 SPECT/CT acquisitions of a decaying (177)Lu-filled phantom (up to 20.75 GBq) and dual-timepoint SPECT/CT in 14 patients treated with personalised (177)Lu peptide receptor radionuclide therapy were analysed. Dead time was determined based on the acquisition wide-spectrum count rate for each projection and averaged for the entire acquisition. Three dead-time correction methods (DTCMs) were used: the per-projection correction, where each projection was individually corrected before reconstruction (DTCM1, the standard of reference), and two per-volume methods using the average dead-time correction factor of the acquisition applied to all projections before reconstruction (DTCM2) or to the SPECT image after reconstruction (DTCM3). Relative differences in quantification were assessed for various volumes of interest (VOIs) on the phantom and patient SPECT images. In patients, the resulting dosimetry estimates for tissues of interest were also compared between DTCMs. RESULTS: Both per-volume DTCMs (DTCM2 and DTCM3) were found to be equivalent, with VOI count differences not exceeding 0.8%. When comparing the per-volume post-reconstruction DTCM3 versus the per-projection pre-reconstruction DTCM1, differences in VOI counts and absorbed dose estimates did not exceed 2%, with very few exceptions. The largest absorbed dose deviation was observed for a kidney at 3.5%. CONCLUSION: While per-projection dead-time correction appears ideal for QSPECT, post-reconstruction correction is an acceptable alternative that is more practical to implement in the clinics, and that results in minimal deviations in quantitative accuracy and dosimetry estimates, as compared to the per-projection correction. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s40658-022-00484-w.