Low-contrast focal lesion detectability phantom for 1H MR imaging

A phantom made from tissue-mimicking materials is reported for testing 1H MRI systems regarding their ability to detect small low-contrast focal lesions and to delineate the boundaries of larger lesions. Two sets of seven spherical simulated lesions with diameters of 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.3, 7.9, and 9.5 mm have T1 and T2 values somewhat higher than the corresponding values in the surrounding simulated normal tissue. Relaxometer determinations of T1 and T2 for the simulated normal tissue yielded 955 and 106 ms, respectively, at 22 degrees C and 1 T. The corresponding values in set #1 of the simulated lesions were 1017 and 175 ms and in set #2 were 1002 and 127 ms. These T1 and T2 values are similar to those for brain and brain lesions but are too high to represent soft tissue such as liver and muscle. The centers of the 14 lesions are coplanar, and eight alignment devices surround them facilitating superposition of the scan plane and the plane containing the centers of the lesions. Illustrative images made with a 1.5-T system are shown. All simulated lesions are detectable in T2-weighted head coil images. Corresponding T1-weighted images are also shown, the 2- and 3-mm lesions of set #2 and the 2-mm lesion of set #1 not being detectable. The phantoms could be useful for performance or acceptance testing and perhaps for quality assurance testing.