Under the direction of Dr Wes Bolch, Distinguished Professor, the Advanced Laboratory for Radiation Dosimetry Studies (ALRADS) focuses on development of rapid and clinically accessible computational tools for use by radiologists and radiation oncologists to assess radiation organ dose and associated secondary cancer risks to patients following diagnostic imaging or radiation therapy. The lab has used computer animation software and real patient imaging data to create a 350-member library of pediatric and adult males and females that covers a broad range of subject heights, weights and body shapes. These anatomic models are now being used in all three areas of medical imaging: interventional fluoroscopy, nuclear medicine, and computed tomography. Therapy applications of the UF patient phantom series include assessment of secondary cancer risks in proton versus photon cancer radiotherapy, alpha emitter radiopharmaceutical therapy, and the use of kilovoltage stereotactic radiotherapy for halting the progression of age-related macular degeneration.
Projects
Computational Phantoms for Blood Dosimetry to Model the Impact of Radiotherapy on the Immune System
NCI funded study (R01 CA248901) with Massachuesetts General Hospital to create whole-body virtual patient models to include intra-organ blood vasculature. These models will be used to assess radiation dose to circulating lymphocytes during proton and photon radiotherapy. Research hypothesis is that blood cells should be considered an organ-at-risk in external beam treatment planning as patients with severe lymphopenia have lower post-therapy clinical outcomes.
MIRDcalc – A Community Tool for Reporting Patient Organ Doses in Nuclear Medicine, CT, and Hybrid Imaging
NIBIB funded study (U01 EB028234) with Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center to develop a robust, user-friendly, and modular tool for both nuclear medicine and computed tomography. The system is based on the ICRP series of computational reference phantoms for nuclear medicine and the UF/NCI library of adult and pediatric phantoms for computed tomography. Additional features include error analysis, pregnancy/fetal dosimetry, and tumor dosimetry.
Implementation of the J45 Phantoms for RERF Survival Organ Dosimetry
Study funded by the Radiation Effects Research Foundation (RERF) to utilize a newly developed series of computational phantoms for adult, children, and pregnant females to reassess survivor organ doses during the 1945 atomic bombings at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. These revised organ doses will be used in re-examining current radiation cancer risk models, which have been the international standard to which all other radiation epidemiology studies are compared.
Microscale Tissue Models for Alpha Particle Dosimetry
NCI funded study (R43 CA224643) with Rapid Dosimetry, LLC to establish alpha-particle cellular-level dosimetry within organs at risk for toxicity in radiopharmaceutical cancer therapy. The project is a collaboration with the UF Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, and utilizes a large collection of tissue histology slides for model construction.
Dose Reduction in Pediatric Molecular Imaging – Digital Phantoms and Organ Dosimetry
NIBIB funded study (R01 EB013558) with Johns Hopkins University and the Boston Children’s Hospital. The objective of this study is to refine guidance on administered activity in pediatric diagnostic nuclear medicine, to take into consideration patient body morphometry beyond simple total body weight. Dosimetry is performed for several diagnostic radiopharmaceuticals used in children, coupled with biokinetic models and simulated SPECT/PET images.
Risk of Cancer in Children and Adolescence Associated with Medical Imaging
NCI funded study (R01 CA185687) with UC-San Francisco, UC-David, the Kaiser Permanente Health Network, and the Pediatric Oncology Group of Ontario. This is the nation’s first broad-scale radiation epidemiology study of cancer risks and medical imaging in children. The ALRADS laboratory is providing the entire study with cohort member organ dosimetry across all modalities – CT, nuclear medicine, fluoroscopy, and radiography.