Abstract
Purpose
Commercial medical ultrasound phantoms are highly specific as they simulate particular clinical scenarios. This makes them expensive to use in multi-target research and training. General approaches to human tissue and organ modeling are described in the manufacturing methodology, access to which is restricted by the manufacturer's trade secret. Our aim is to propose a reproducible methodology to design a head phantom for transcranial ultrasound training and research from widely available materials and to validate its applicability.
Methods
To create an anthropomorphic phantom, we used data from real patients obtained by CT and MRI scans. We combined FDM and LCD 3D printing to achieve the desired acoustic performance and ergonomics of the phantom. We fabricated the phantom using polyvinyl chloride plastisol, photopolymer, and PLA to simulate brain tissue, temporal acoustic windows, and acoustically opaque parts of the skull, respectively. Notably, the phantom fabrication method uses only readily available materials and is easy to reproduce.
Results
We developed a basic one and anatomical one versions of the head phantom. The basic version contains a simplified brain: tissue-mimicking material is poured into the skull with needles inserted, which specific pattern is easy to recognize in B-mode images. The anatomical version has an anatomically correct brain dummy extracted from MRI data and contains multiple randomly distributed small metal, plastic, and bony objects ranging in size from 1 to 3 mm each.
Conclusion
The proposed methodology allows producing head phantoms for transcranial ultrasound training and research. The anatomical accuracy of the model is proved by ultrasonography and CT studies. Both versions of the phantom comprise the skull and the brain and are intended for ultrasound imaging through the temporal bone acoustic window. Needles and small objects serve as navigation targets during the training procedure. The basic version helps learning basic navigation skills, while the anatomical one provides a realistic setting to perform the diagnostic procedure.
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Change history
09 May 2022
A Correction to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11548-022-02647-7
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Acknowledgements
The authors gratefully acknowledge valuable advice from Igor Demin (PhD, Associate Professor, UNN), Igor Sokolov (Dr.Sci, MPEI) and Georgy Grigoriev (PhD), and thank Albina Laipan (junior researcher, Moscow Radiology) for help in obtaining data. Assistance with editing the manuscript provided by Marina Vlasova was also highly appreciated. The research leading to these results received funding from the Moscow Healthcare Department as part of the Program “Scientific Support of the Capital’s Healthcare” for 2020–2022 under Grant Agreement No. AAAA-A20-120071090054-9.
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Leonov, D., Kodenko, M., Leichenco, D. et al. Design and validation of a phantom for transcranial ultrasonography. Int J CARS 17, 1579–1588 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11548-022-02614-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11548-022-02614-2