Three-dimensional, distendable bladder phantom for optical coherence tomography and white light cystoscopy

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Optical Imaging
• Medical Device Development

Background:

• Accurate phantoms are crucial for developing and validating new medical imaging technologies.
• Existing phantoms may not fully replicate the complex anatomical and optical properties of cancerous bladder tissue.
• Optical coherence tomography (OCT) shows promise for non-invasive bladder cancer detection, requiring suitable emulation tools.

Purpose of the Study:

• To create a realistic 3-D phantom of a cancerous bladder using a generalized fabrication process.
• To enable evaluation of white light and OCT-based endoscopic imaging techniques.
• To establish the generalizability and limitations of fabrication techniques for 3-D phantoms.

Main Methods:

• A combination of fabrication techniques was employed to construct the 3-D phantom.
• The phantom was designed to mimic key characteristics: size, macro/microstructure, optical properties, and functional aspects of a cancerous bladder.
• Features visible in white light, such as blood vessels, were incorporated for realistic emulation.

Main Results:

• A 3-D phantom successfully replicating cancerous bladder characteristics was fabricated.
• The phantom includes features recognizable under white light, suitable for OCT cystoscopy.
• The fabrication process demonstrated broad applicability and generalizability to other tissue types and imaging modalities.

Conclusions:

• The developed 3-D bladder phantom is a valuable tool for evaluating OCT systems and software.
• This phantom facilitates advancements in longitudinal bladder surveillance and early cancer detection.
• The generalized fabrication approach has significant potential for creating phantoms for diverse biomedical imaging applications.