Anthropomorphic Carotid Artery Phantom for Ultrasound Flow and Vessel Wall Elastography Imaging

Shear wave elastography imaging (SWE) is a non-invasive US technique that has been developed to provide quantitative information about tissue elasticity. This technique might be useful in the identification of vascular risk factors. Arterial wall thickness and inner diameter vary with age and disease, which may impact shear wave propagation. The effect of arterial geometry on SWE has not yet been thoroughly investigated. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the impact of different wall thickness, pulsation and imaging planes on YM estimates, to gain more information about the source of variability associated with SWE.

Poly(vinyl alcohol) cryogel (PVA-c) fabrication has been used for phantom design and construction. The agar-based TMM was used to surround the tubes. The inlet and outlet of the phantom were connected to a programmable gear pump using c-flex tubing to form a closed loop. Image J profiling was used to clarify the anomalies further detected using SWE.

The 4 F/T cycle vessel phantom has shown less YM variability than in the 6 F/T cycle. YM ranged from 8 kPa for a 1 mm thickness tube to 53 kPa for the thickest 6 mm wall thickness for the softer 4 F/T cycle tube. Vessel phantoms embedded in TMM show higher variability than vessel phantoms submerged in water. YM ranged from 32 kPa for a 1 mm thickness tube to 117 kPa for the thickest 6 mm wall thickness for the softer 4 F/T cycle tube.

SWE variability in measurements was higher in phantoms embedded in TMM compared to those submerged in water. It is recommended that combine the transverse and longitudinal imaging planes to provide a better understanding of disease over the full vessel circumference.