Photodynamic therapy light dose analysis of a patient based upon arterial and venous contrast CT scan information

The goal of this work was to determine the light dose required to induce necrosis in verteporfin-based photodynamic therapy, in the VERTPAC-1 trial. Patient CT scans were obtained of the abdomen, including the entire treatment zone of pancreas and surrounding tissues, before and after treatment, as well as fast scans during needle placement. These scans were used to estimate arterial and venous blood content, and provide structural information of the pancreas and nearby blood vessels. Using NIRFAST, a finite-element based package for modeling diffuse near-infrared light transport in tissue, simulations were run to create maps of light fluence within the pancreas. These maps provided visualizations of light dose overlaid on the original CT scans, and were used to estimate light dose at the boundary of the zone of necrosis, as observed in follow up treatment outcome CT scans. The aim of these simulation studies was to assist pre-treatment planning by informing the light treatment parameters. This paper presents a case study of the process used on a single patient.