Alumina as a Computed Tomography Soft Material and Tissue Fiducial Marker
S E Stephens1, N B Ingels1, J F Wenk2
1Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Arkansas, United States of America.
Background:
The use of 3D imaging is becoming increasingly common, so too is the use of fiducial markers to identify/track regions of interest and assess material deformation. While many different materials have been used as fiducials, they are often used in isolation, with little comparison to one another.
Objective:
In the current study, we aim to directly compare different Computed Tomography (CT and μCT) fiducial materials, both metallic and nonmetallic.
Methods:
μCT imaging was performed on a soft-tissue structure, in this case heart valve tissue, with various markers attached. Additionally, we evaluated the same markers with DiceCT stained tissue in a fluid medium. Eight marker materials were tested in all.
Results:
All of the metallic markers generated significant artifacts and were found unsuitable for soft-tissue μCT imaging, whereas alumina markers were found to perform the best, with excellent contrast and consistency.
Conclusions:
These findings support the further use of alumina as fiducial markers for soft material and tissue studies that utilize CT and μCT imaging.
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