A microfabricated phantom for quantitative MR perfusion measurements: validation of singular value decomposition...

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Medical Imaging Physics

Background:

• Accurate simulation of microvasculature is crucial for understanding tissue perfusion.
• Existing perfusion phantoms lack the microscale resolution to mimic actual capillary networks.
• Developing advanced imaging phantoms is essential for validating perfusion measurement techniques.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present a novel microfluidic perfusion phantom with microchannel networks mimicking human microvasculature.
• To precisely calculate perfusion parameters using finite element method (FEM) simulations.
• To evaluate the accuracy of singular value decomposition (SVD) methods for estimating perfusion parameters from phantom data.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of a microchannel network using microfabrication techniques, designed according to Murray's law.
• Calculation of perfusion parameters (flow, volume ratio, transit time) via FEM.
• Estimation of perfusion parameters using deconvolution of the residue function with standard (sSVD) and reformulated (rSVD) singular value decomposition.

Main Results:

• The microfluidic phantom accurately replicates microvasculature geometry and hemodynamic principles.
• FEM simulations provided precise ground truth values for perfusion parameters.
• SVD methods, both standard and reformulated, were evaluated for their accuracy in estimating perfusion parameters, considering delay and dispersion effects.

Conclusions:

• The developed microfluidic perfusion phantom serves as a valuable tool for MR and other imaging modalities.
• The study quantifies the impact of delay and dispersion on the accuracy of SVD-based perfusion parameter estimation.
• This phantom facilitates the validation and optimization of perfusion imaging techniques and analysis methods.