Quasi-simultaneous 3D printing of muscle-, lung- and bone-equivalent media: a proof-of-concept study

3D printing is a promising solution for the production of bespoke phantoms and phantom components, for radiotherapy dosimetry and quality assurance (QA) purposes. This proof-of-concept study investigated the use of a dual-head printer to deposit two different filaments (polylactic acid (PLA) and StoneFil PLA-concrete (Formfutura BV, Nijmegen, Netherlands)) at several different in-fill densities, to achieve quasi-simultaneous 3D printing of muscle-, lung- and bone-equivalent media. A Raise 3D Pro 3D printer (Raise 3D Technologies Inc, Irvine, USA) was used to print one thoracic and one cranial phantom slab. Analysis using in-house 3D print QA software showed that the two humanoid phantom slabs geometrically matched the stereolithography (STL) files on which they were based, within 0.3 mm, except in one area of the thoracic slab that was affected by thermal warping by up to 3.4 mm. The 3D printed muscle, lung and bone materials in the two humanoid phantom slabs were approximately radiologically-equivalent to human muscle, lung and bone. In particular, the use of StoneFil with a nominally constant in-fill density of 100% resulted in regions that were approximately inner-bone-equivalent, at kV and MV energies. These regions were bounded by walls that were substantially denser than inner bone, although generally not dense enough to be truly cortical-bone-equivalent. This proof-of-concept study demonstrated a method by which multiple tissue-equivalent materials (eg. muscle-, lung- and bone-equivalent media) can be deposited within one 3D print, allowing complex phantom components to be fabricated efficiently in a clinical setting.