[Creation of Brain Parenchymal Equivalent Phantom for Diffusion Weighted Image Using Microwave Oven: A Different...

Area of Science:

• Medical Imaging
• Neuroscience
• Biomedical Engineering

Background:

• Acute micro cerebral infarction detection requires specialized phantoms for Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) optimization.
• Traditional phantom creation methods often rely on hot stirrers, which are not widely available in clinical settings.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the feasibility of using a microwave oven as an alternative to a hot stirrer for creating brain parenchyma phantoms.
• To compare the efficiency and quality of phantoms created using both methods for acute micro cerebral infarction detection.

Main Methods:

• Five acute micro cerebral infarction phantoms were created using a conventional hot stirrer.
• Five phantoms were created using a microwave oven.
• Phantom creation time, T2 values, apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values, image uniformity, and reproducibility were assessed and compared between the two methods.

Main Results:

• Microwave oven phantom creation time averaged 108±8 minutes, significantly shorter than the 213±48 minutes required with a hot stirrer.
• No significant differences were observed in T2 values, ADC values, uniformity, or reproducibility between the two phantom creation methods.

Conclusions:

• A microwave oven provides a significantly faster and more accessible method for creating acute micro cerebral infarction phantoms.
• This microwave-assisted technique offers comparable phantom quality to the traditional hot stirrer method, facilitating MRI optimization.