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SU‐FF‐I‐07: Characterization of a Novel Anthropomorphic Plastinated Lung Phantom
Author(s) -
Yoon S,
Henry R,
Bouley D,
Fahrig R
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
medical physics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.473
H-Index - 180
eISSN - 2473-4209
pISSN - 0094-2405
DOI - 10.1118/1.2240245
Subject(s) - imaging phantom , materials science , silicone , biomedical engineering , in vivo , nuclear medicine , silastic , lung , medicine , surgery , biology , microbiology and biotechnology , composite material
Purpose: To quantify the anatomical and imaging characteristics of a novel anthropomorphic lung phantom constructed using plastination. Method and Materials: The pig's thorax was scanned in‐vivo at known partial pressures on a clinical CT (Siemens Sensation 16, 120kVP, 100mAs, recon 0.54×0.54×0.75mm∧3). The lungs were extracted, inflated, and fixed by intra‐tracheal perfusion of 10% formalin while the pulmonary vessels were injected with Silastic E RTV silicone. The specimen was dehydrated (remove and replace tissue fluid with an organic solvent) in cold acetone and the lungs were impregnated with a curable silicone polymer via slow decreasing pressure. Finally, the polymer was polymerized using a curing agent. The plastinated phantom was then scanned (120kVp, 200mAs, 0.43×0.43×0.75mm∧3). Anatomical features, volume measurements, and CT values were compared using in‐vivo and phantom clinical CT reconstructions. Results: The plastinated phantom is stable on the timescale of years and retains major anatomical features of the in‐vivo lung. The phantom airway volume was 66% of the in‐vivo measurement at inspiration but equal to the measurement at expiration. Vessel and lung volume comparisons were complicated by incompletely filled vessels and air pockets inside the phantom; nevertheless, lung volume measurements differed by less than 15%. Mean CT values of the cardiac tissue in the phantom (168 +/− 46) were 132 HU higher than in‐vivo (36 +/− 87). Mean CT values of the pulmonary tissue were nearly equivalent for both datasets, attributed to an 11% decrease in the apparent tissue density due to over‐inflation during plastination. Conclusion: This work shows that the novel plastinated lung phantom retains the anatomical and imaging characteristics of an in‐vivo lung. This accurate and complex lung phantom has many uses including imaging system comparisons, providing a known, stable reproducible complex background for visibility studies and will be used for our own studies in lung tomosynthesis optimization.