Can Fruits and Vegetables Be Used as Substitute Phantoms for Normal Human Brain Tissues in Magnetic Resonance Imaging?

Abstract

Various custom-made phantoms designed to optimize magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) sequences have been created and subsequently reported in JSRT. However, custom-made phantoms that correctly match the T1-value and T2-values of human brain tissue (gray matter and white matter) cannot be made easily or quickly. The aim of this project was to search for alternative materials, such as fruits and vegetables, for optimizing MRI sequences. The following eight fruits and vegetables were investigated: apple, tomato, melon, apple mango (Mangifera indica), banana, avocado, peach, and eggplant. Their potential was studied for use in modeling phantoms of normal human brain tissues. MRI (T1- and T2-weighted sequences) was performed on the human brain and the fruits and vegetables using various concentrations of contrast medium (gadolinium) in the same size tubes as the custom-made phantom. The authors compared the signal intensity (SI) in human brain tissue (gray matter and white matter) with that of the fruits and the custom-made phantom. The T1 and T2 values were measured for banana tissue and compared with those for human brain tissue in the literature. Our results indicated that banana tissue is similar to human brain tissue (both gray matter and white matter). Banana tissue can thus be employed as an alternative phantom for the human brain for the purpose of MRI.

Phantom Study on the Robustness of MR Radiomics Features: Comparing the Applicability of 3D Printed and Biological Phantoms

“…Unlike analyses solely based on 3D printed and biological phantoms, results based on actual human tissue can better indicate the usefulness of radiomics. This is because whatever phantom is proposed, they are always a simplification of a real human tissue environment [ 35 , 38 , 103 , 104 ]. Second, we examined only the 3D radiomic characteristics of certain texture classes.…”

“…Second, we examined only the 3D radiomic characteristics of certain texture classes. However, we wanted to include only the most frequently used ones in this work [ 13 , 35 ]. In addition, the number of MR devices and sequences included in the study was also limited.…”

“…QR codes may provide an additional analytical option through the potential of the read-out success rate of the information stored on a deeper level in MR images [ 34 ]. The 3D-printed phantoms were compared to biological phantoms that have previously been found useful in the literature (kiwis, onions, and tomatoes) [ 35 ].QR codes and Hilbert curves are well structured and precisely defined mathematical objects, ensuring decent reproducibility in manufacturing [ 32 ]. QR codes may provide an additional analytical option through the potential of the read-out success rate of the information stored on a deeper level in MR images [ 34 ].…”