Automatic organ-dose-estimation for patient-specific computed tomography scans

A method for calculating patient-specific organ dose, comprising:

• segmenting a computed tomography (CT) volume originated from a CT scanner into a plurality of organ regions, wherein the CT volume contains a plurality of voxels, and each of the plurality of organ regions contains a subset of voxels selected from the plurality of voxels;
• determining material types and densities for the plurality of voxels in the CT volume based on the plurality of voxels' Hounsfield Unit (HU) value;
• generating a dose distribution map for the CT volume by performing a Boltzmann Transport Equation (BTE) calculation based on the CT scanner's configurations and the plurality of voxels' material types and densities, wherein the dose distribution map stores a plurality of dose values associated with the plurality of voxels;
• and
• generating a dose value for a specific organ region selected from the plurality of organ regions, based on the subset of voxels associated with the specific organ region and the subset of voxels' dose values stored in the dose distribution map.

A system configured to calculate patient-specific organ dose, comprising:

• an auto-segmentation module configured to segment a computed tomography (CT) volume into a plurality of organ regions, wherein the CT volume is constructed based on CT images generated by a CT scanner, the CT volume contains a plurality of voxels, and each of the plurality of organ regions contains a subset of voxels selected from the plurality of voxels;
• a tissue-assignment module coupled with the auto-segmentation module, wherein the tissue-assignment module is configured to generate a material density map for the CT volume based on the plurality of voxels' Hounsfield Unit (HU) values, and the material density map defines a corresponding material type and density for each of the plurality of voxels;
• a dose-distribution-calculation module coupled with the tissue-assignment module, wherein the dose-distribution-calculation module is configured to generate a dose distribution map for the CT volume based on the material density map by simulating particles emitting from the CT scanner and flowing through the plurality of voxels, and the dose distribution map stores a plurality of 3-dimension (3D) particle fluence distribution values among the plurality of voxels;
• and
• a dose-tabulation module coupled with the dose-distribution-calculation module, wherein the dose tabulation module is configured to generate a dose value delivered to a specific organ region of the plurality of organ regions, based on the dose distribution map.