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Gyroid structures for 3D-printed heterogeneous radiotherapy phantoms
R Tino1,2,3,4, M Leary1,2,4, A Yeo3
1RMIT Centre for Additive Manufacture, Innovative Manufacturing Research Group (Medical Manufacturing), RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia.
Physics in Medicine and Biology
|September 28, 2019
Summary
3D printing enables custom radiotherapy phantoms using Gyroid structures. These phantoms offer consistent Hounsfield units (HU) across orientations, improving quality assurance and patient-specific treatment planning.
Area of Science:
- Medical Physics
- Materials Science
- Biomedical Engineering
Background:
- 3D printing offers customizable, low-cost radiotherapy phantoms for quality assurance.
- Existing techniques lack quantification and research into naturally inspired structures like triply periodic minimal surfaces (TPMS).
- TPMS enable material heterogeneity crucial for patient-specific phantom development.
Purpose of the Study:
- Investigate the manufacturability of Gyroid structures for radiotherapy phantom applications.
- Analyze the mathematical definition of Gyroids and their impact on Hounsfield Units (HU).
- Evaluate Gyroid phantoms for their potential in creating patient-specific radiotherapy QA tools.
Main Methods:
- Fabricated Gyroid phantoms using 3D printing.
- Assessed manufacturability via optical microscopy and micro-computed tomography (µCT).
- Determined material Hounsfield equivalence using standard medical CT scans.
Main Results:
- Achieved a mean HU range of -900 to -390 with varying standard deviations in fabricated Gyroid phantoms.
- Gyroid phantoms demonstrated isotropic HU and standard deviation (SD) across different scanning orientations.
- Exhibited optimized CT attenuations, modulating Hounsfield equivalence compared to traditional infills (grid, slit).
Conclusions:
- Demonstrated the feasibility of manipulating Gyroid structural parameters to simulate tissue imaging attenuations.
- Gyroid structures offer a viable basis for patient-specific radiotherapy phantoms with enhanced accuracy.
- Opens research avenues for fabricating phantoms with pathological features for comprehensive radiotherapy testing.
