Improving the homogeneity of tissue‐mimicking cryogel phantoms for medical imaging

Abstract

The modified freeze-thaw process enabled to minimize the temperature gradient within the large cryogel phantoms during the freeze-thaw cycle. The results of this study can help to fill the gaps in the scientific literature with regard to developing homogeneous phantoms for medical imaging. This work also provides a solid foundation for future studies in this field and could facilitate formulating new hydrogels to replicate the viscoelastic properties of soft tissues.

Influence of nesting shell size on brightness longevity and resistance to ultrasound-induced dissolution during enhanced B-mode contrast imaging

“…These freeze thaw cycles are chosen so polymers of the PVA align into a tight crystal structure. The large cryogels developed by the preparation technique usually exhibit variations in properties due to the low thermal conductivity of the polymeric solution [38]. This leads to variations in freezing-thawing rates across the gels which results in nonhomogeneities that possess some scattering intensity.…”

High-resolution acoustic mapping of tunable gelatin-based phantoms for ultrasound tissue characterization

“…Many studies document the use of different types of chemicals to prepare mechanically identical tissue-mimicking phantoms including water-based phantoms. Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) cryogel demonstrated adjustable mechanical properties when exposed to freeze-thaw techniques for intravascular elastography ( Chu and Rutt, 1997 ; Fromageau et al, 2003 ; Minton et al, 2012 ). Polyacrylamide gels have also been used to fabricate tissue-mimicking phantoms with better physical stability than other water-based phantoms ( Kawabata et al, 2004 ; Kumar et al, 2010 ; Khraiche and El Hassan, 2020 ).…”

Tilted Fiber Bragg Grating Active Heater for Controlled and Localised Hyperthermia

“…Phantoms, also known as false tissues, are made from a wide range of materials to mimic certain characteristics of human tissues including thermal, optical, chemical, and mechanical properties [54,[96][97][98][99][100][101][102][103][104][105][106][107][108][109][110][111]. Phantoms have been utilized and developed to validate and invoke a number of the sensing, imaging, diagnostic, and treatment techniques.…”

“…Phantoms in hyperthermia oncology have also played a profound effect on the development of heating and temperature monitoring devices, treatment schemes, modalities, and planning software [39,[96][97][98][99][100][101][102][103][104][105][106][107][108][109][110][111][112][113][114]. This is accomplished through measuring the power deposition factor, known as local specific absorption rate (SAR), of the electromagnetic energy into a tissue-equivalent material.…”