Tumor phantom model for MRI-guided focused ultrasound ablation studies

The persistent development of focused ultrasound (FUS) thermal therapy in the context of oncology creates the need for tissue-mimicking tumor phantom models for early-stage experimentation and evaluation of relevant systems and protocols.

This study presents the development and evaluation of a tumor-bearing tissue phantom model for testing magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-guided FUS (MRgFUS) ablation protocols and equipment based on MR thermometry.

Normal tissue was mimicked by a pure agar gel, while the tumor simulator was differentiated from the surrounding material by including silicon dioxide. The phantom was characterized in terms of acoustic, thermal, and MRI properties. US, MRI, and computed tomography (CT) images of the phantom were acquired to assess the contrast between the two compartments. The phantom's response to thermal heating was investigated by performing high power sonications with a 2.4 MHz single element spherically focused ultrasonic transducer in a 3T MRI scanner.

The estimated phantom properties fall within the range of literature-reported values of soft tissues. The inclusion of silicon dioxide in the tumor material offered excellent tumor visualization in US, MRI, and CT. MR thermometry revealed temperature elevations in the phantom to ablation levels and clear evidence of larger heat accumulation within the tumor owing to the inclusion of silicon dioxide.

Overall, the study findings suggest that the proposed tumor phantom model constitutes a simple and inexpensive tool for preclinical MRgFUS ablation studies, and potentially other image-guided thermal ablation applications upon minimal modifications.