Development of a human-tissue-like phantom for 3.0-T MRI

Area of Science:

• Medical Imaging
• Biophysics

Background:

• Accurate Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) requires phantoms with human-tissue-equivalent relaxation properties.
• Developing such phantoms is essential for scanner calibration and sequence development.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a 3.0-Tesla (T) MRI phantom with adjustable T(1) and T(2) relaxation times.
• To create a phantom capable of mimicking the relaxation characteristics of human tissues.

Main Methods:

• The phantom was formulated using carrageenan as a gelling agent, Gadolinium(III) chloride (GdCl(3)) for T(1) modification, and agarose for T(2) modification.
• Samples with varying concentrations of GdCl(3) and agarose were prepared and analyzed using 3.0-T MRI to measure T(1) and T(2) values.
• Empirical formulas were derived to correlate relaxation modifier concentrations with measured relaxation times.

Main Results:

• Achieved T(1) relaxation times ranged from 395 to 2601 ms.
• Achieved T(2) relaxation times ranged from 29 to 334 ms.
• Established empirical relationships between relaxation modifier concentrations and phantom relaxation times.

Conclusions:

• The developed phantom allows for arbitrary setting of T(1) and T(2) relaxation times by adjusting GdCl(3) and agarose concentrations.
• Carrageenan proved to be a suitable and cost-effective gelling agent for producing large, shapeable MRI phantoms.
• This phantom technology can significantly aid in MRI calibration and research by accurately simulating human tissue properties.