Hybrid organosilicon/polyol phantom for photoacoustic imaging

Abstract

The rapid development of hardware and software for photoacoustic technologies is urging the establishment of dedicated tools for standardization and performance assessment. In particular, the fabrication of anatomical phantoms for photoacoustic imaging remains an open question, as current solutions have not yet gained unanimous support. Here, we propose that a hybrid material made of a water-in-oil emulsion of glycerol and polydimethylsiloxane may represent a versatile platform to host a broad taxonomy of hydrophobic and hydrophilic dyes and recapitulate the optical and acoustic features of bio tissue. For a full optical parameterization, we refer to Wróbel, et al. [Biomed. Opt. Express 7, 2088], where this material was first presented for optical imaging. Instead, here, we complete the picture and find that its speed of sound and acoustic attenuation resemble those of pure polydimethylsiloxane, i.e. respectively 1150 ± 30 m/s and 3.5 ± 0.4 dB/(MHz•cm). We demonstrate its use under a commercial B-mode scanner and a home-made A-mode stage for photoacoustic analysis to retrieve the ground-truth encoded in a multilayer architecture containing indocyanine green, plasmonic particles and red blood cells. Finally, we verify the stability of its acoustic, optical and geometric features over a time span of three months.

Criteria for the design of tissue-mimicking phantoms for the standardization of biophotonic instrumentation

“…for PAI, including hydrogels 95,249 , PVA 90,91 , silicone 250,251 , PVCP 97,159,161,[164][165][166] and copolymerin-oil materials 172,177 . Inclusions have been made by embedding fluid-filled channels 161,252 or solid absorbers such as wires or filaments 253 , or by creating simple 97,159,169 or more complex vessel-mimicking 165,170 inserts.…”

Review of consensus test methods in medical imaging and current practices in photoacoustic image quality assessment

“…A wide variety of background phantom materials was observed, including water, 46 , 47 Intralipid, 48 – 50 and various TMMs such as hydrogels (agar, gelatin, and polyvinyl alcohol), 51 – 56 polyurethane, 57 – 59 silicone, 60 gel wax, 8 styrene-ethylene/butylene-styrene polymer, 61 polydimethylsiloxane, 62 , 63 and polyvinyl chloride plastisol (PVCP). 48 , 64 , 65 Of the 119 studies of interest, 64 (54%) performed testing on targets immersed in non-turbid water baths or gels, rather than embedded in tissue-mimicking phantoms.…”

Photoacoustic imaging phantoms for assessment of object detectability and boundary buildup artifacts

“…An ideal tissue-mimicking material (TMM) for PAI phantoms would simultaneously possess optical and acoustic properties that are both tunable and biologically relevant. PAI phantoms have been fabricated using many materials, including paraffin gel wax; [9] , [10] emulsions such as Intralipid [11] and glycerol-in-polydimethylsiloxane; [12] polyvinyl chlorine plastisol (PVCP); [13] , [14] , [15] , [16] copolymer-in-oil; [17] , [18] and hydrogels such as gelatin [19] , agar/agarose [20] , [21] , [22] , [23] , [24] , [25] , and polyvinyl alcohol [26] , [27] , [28] . Promising PVA and PVCP TMMs have been reported for the preparation of breast-mimicking phantoms.…”