Development of a physical 3D anthropomorphic breast phantom

Area of Science:

• Medical Imaging
• Biomedical Engineering
• Radiology

Background:

• Accurate image quality assessment is crucial for 2D and 3D breast x-ray imaging systems.
• Existing phantoms may lack the anatomical accuracy and known ground truth required for comprehensive evaluation.
• Anthropomorphic phantoms are essential for simulating realistic clinical scenarios in mammography and digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT).

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a novel technique for fabricating 3D anthropomorphic breast phantoms.
• To create phantoms with precisely known composition and structure for ground truth establishment.
• To enable objective image quality assessment of 2D and 3D breast x-ray imaging technologies.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a computer-generated voxel phantom model to define breast composition, size, and shape.
• Fabricated glandular tissue, skin, and Cooper's ligaments sections via high-resolution rapid prototyping (RP).
• Filled remaining adipose compartments with an epoxy-based resin (EBR) to achieve specific tissue equivalencies.

Main Results:

• A prototype phantom simulating a 450 ml breast with 45% dense tissue was successfully created.
• Both RP and EBR materials demonstrated radiographic uniformity with minimal variation (<1% attenuation, <1.5% signal intensity).
• Radiologists reported clinical similarity of mammography and DBT images from the phantom, noting minor artifacts from air bubbles in the EBR.

Conclusions:

• A robust technique for producing 3D anthropomorphic breast phantoms with known ground truth has been established.
• The fabricated phantoms generate highly realistic x-ray images, suitable for qualitative and quantitative assessments.
• These phantoms represent a valuable tool for advancing the performance evaluation of breast x-ray imaging systems.