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Updated: May 3, 2026
Fat-Water Phantoms for Magnetic Resonance Imaging Validation: A Flexible and Scalable Protocol
Published on: September 7, 2018
Biomimetic phantom for the validation of diffusion magnetic resonance imaging
Penny L Hubbard1,2, Feng-Lei Zhou1,3, Stephen J Eichhorn4
1Centre for Imaging Sciences, Manchester Academic Health Sciences Centre, The University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom.
Purpose:
A range of advanced diffusion MRI (dMRI) techniques are currently in development which characterize the orientation of white matter fibers using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). There is a need for a physical phantom with microstructural features of the brain's white matter to help validate these methods.
Methods:
Hollow, co-electrospun, aligned fibers with a tuneable size distribution have been produced in bulk and with an MR visible solvent infused into the pores. The morphology and size of the phantoms was assessed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and compared with DTI results obtained on both a clinical and preclinical scanner.
Results:
By varying inner diameter of the phantom fibers (from SEM: 9.5 microm, 11.9 microm, 13.4 microm) the radial diffusivity and fractional anisotropy, calculated from DTI, vary between 0.38 ± 0.05 × 10(3) and 0.61 ± 0.06 × 10(3) cm s(-1) and between 0.45 ± 0.05 and 0.33 ± 0.04, respectively.
Conclusion:
We envisage that these materials will be used for the validation of novel and established methods within the field of diffusion MRI, as well as for routine quality assurance purposes and for establishing scanner performance in multicenter trials.
