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Updated: Jul 4, 2026
Fabrication and Characterization of Optical Tissue Phantoms Containing Macrostructure
Published on: February 12, 2018
Design and fabrication of phantoms using stereolithography for small-animal imaging systems
Mi-Ae Park1, Robert E Zimmerman, Andrew Taberner
1Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA. miaepark@bwh.harvard.edu
Purpose:
We have investigated a new technology for fabricating phantoms with fine details for use in small-animal imaging.
Procedures:
We used a high-resolution, 3-D stereolithography (SL) system to produce performance-evaluation phantoms such as cold-rod Derenzo, hot-channel Derenzo, and Defrise phantoms. SL performance was estimated by measuring the dimensions of many structures using a microscope. We also evaluated the degree of water absorption by two different SL resins, Somos 11120 and Accura 40, after curing.
Results:
The average bias and precision of the cold-rod structures over the size range 0.5 to 1.0 mm, were -0.4% and 1.74%, respectively. The water absorption study showed that Somos 11120 is a more suitable material for nuclear medicine applications.
Conclusion:
We have demonstrated that SL is a robust and accurate method for fabrication of phantoms for small-animal imaging systems.
