Agarose and Wax Tissue-Mimicking Phantom for Dynamic Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Liver (original) (raw)

Objectives: Polymer phantoms can be used to simulate the properties of tissues or organs such as the liver during magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Although there are reports of simulated liver phantoms with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC); no studies have documented the simulating of the typical dynamic pattern. Aim: The present study aimed to investigate properties of developed phantoms with respect to the stability, including chemical, mechanical, electrical, as well as MRI properties (T1- and T2- signal intensities), in addition to simulating HCC in a dynamic way. Methods: In this study, liver parenchyma of size 23 ×18 ×13 cm was simulated using three different agarose-wax samples (agarose at concentrations of 2.5 wt%, 4.5 wt%, and 6.0 wt%) mixed with a fixed wax concentration of 2.6 wt%.. HCC samples were fabricated using polyurethane and glycerol of various diameters (0.5, 1.0, and 2.0 cm). Results: The results showed that the agarose-wax sample with a concentration of 2.5 wt% ...