MRI phantoms - are there alternatives to agar?
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 23940563.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0070343 and PMC identifier 3734012.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
The suitability of different gelling agents as MRI phantoms was evaluated in terms of homogeneity, gel stability and reproducibility. Time and effort for preparation were also taken into account. The relaxation times of various gel compositions were estimated. Carbomer-980 and Carbopol-974P were determined to be promising novel phantom materials. These gelling agents are readily available, inexpensive and easy to handle given that thermal treatment is not required. Furthermore, the viscoelasticity of their polymer network is pH-dependent. With such characteristics, it was even possible to embed sensitive objects and retrieve them after testing. This was demonstrated with a fiber phantom for Diffusion Weighted MRI applications. Since Carbomer-980 and Carbopol-974P are non-hazardous, they are also suitable for multimodal setups (e.g., MRI as well as ultrasonic imaging).
Medical subject headings
- Agar
- Magnetic Resonance Imaging