Towards a more realistic anthropomorphic chest phantom using 3D-printed and cork-integrated components

Thorax phantoms for computed tomography (CT) imaging often lack realistic lung parenchyma and bronchovascular anatomy. To improve anatomical accuracy, 3D-printed chest phantoms have been developed as more realistic alternatives to existing models.

To evaluate whether an in-house developed anthropomorphic phantom insert realistically represents the anatomical structures and attenuation characteristics compared to the original phantom and human CT data.

The anthropomorphic chest phantom "Lungman" was modified by integrating a 3D-printed insert, cork-based lung parenchyma, and lung nodules. The phantom was scanned on a CT system and evaluated using qualitative and quantitative CT analyses, comparing attenuation values and histogram distributions to human CT data. Subjective radiologist assessments were conducted to compare anatomical realism between the modified and unmodified phantom.

Qualitative assessment of CT value distribution showed strong similarity between the modified phantom and human lung parenchyma, although the radiodensity characteristics of the 3D-printed bronchovascular insert still require further refinement. Quantitative analysis confirmed that the modified phantom's parenchymal attenuation (-854 Hounsfield unit [HU]) closely matched human lung parenchyma (-872 HU, p > 0.05), whereas the unmodified phantom showed lower attenuation (-997 HU, p < 0.05). However, the bronchovascular insert showed lower attenuation than human vasculature (-41 HU vs. 42 HU, p < 0.05). Radiologists rated the modified phantom higher for anatomical realism.

This study presents a modified, anthropomorphic thorax phantom that integrates realistic 3D-printed bronchial and vascular structures, lung parenchyma, and lung nodules.