3D-printed Shepp-Logan phantom as a real-world benchmark for MRI

Area of Science:

• Medical Imaging
• Biomedical Engineering

Background:

• Magnetic resonance (MR) imaging relies on phantoms for validation.
• Existing phantoms may not meet the needs of specialized applications requiring custom geometries.

Purpose of the Study:

• To demonstrate the effectiveness of rapid prototyping for creating custom MR-compatible phantom designs.
• To showcase the flexibility and expediency of this approach for MR applications.

Main Methods:

• A 3D Shepp-Logan numerical phantom was adapted for magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging (MRSI).
• Rapid prototyping was used to fabricate the physical phantom.
• Compartments were filled with solutions of common brain metabolites.
• Analytical Fourier expressions generated simulated MRSI data for comparison with experimental results.

Main Results:

• Experimental data from structural and spectroscopic imaging confirmed the suitability of rapid prototyping for MR phantoms.
• Simulated MRSI measurements closely matched acquired data.
• Discrepancies between simulated and acquired data highlighted the impact of acquisition model assumptions.

Conclusions:

• Rapid prototyping provides a versatile and novel framework for MR phantom validation.
• This technology can link numerical simulations with physical phantom testing, enhancing MR research.
• Increasing accessibility and open-source compatibility of rapid prototyping tools are beneficial.