Semiempirical analysis of materials' elemental composition to formulate tissue-equivalent materials: a preliminary...

Area of Science:

• Medical Physics
• Materials Science
• Radiology

Background:

• Tissue-equivalent materials are crucial for quality control in diagnostic and therapeutic radiology.
• Accurate elemental composition of base materials is essential for formulating effective tissue-equivalent materials.
• Obtaining elemental composition data for base materials can be challenging.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose and validate a novel stoichiometric analysis method for determining the elemental composition of base materials.
• To enable the manufacturing of accurate tissue-equivalent materials for radiological applications.

Main Methods:

• Combined stoichiometric calibration with the basic data method to analyze elemental composition from measured computer tomography (CT) numbers.
• Investigated elemental composition by varying tube voltages on a CT scanner.
• Tested the method on eight different material cylinders.

Main Results:

• The proposed method accurately estimated elemental compositions, showing good correlation between calculated, simulated, and measured CT numbers (max absolute differences of 1.9 and 3.7 HU).
• Accuracy of elemental composition estimation was dependent on the precision of measured CT numbers.
• Successfully analyzed up to the number of elements corresponding to the available tube voltages.

Conclusions:

• The developed stoichiometric analysis method is effective for determining the elemental composition of materials.
• This method provides a viable approach for formulating precise tissue-equivalent materials.
• The findings support improved quality assurance in radiology through better material characterization.