Bake your phantom-low-cost recipes for dough-based, tissue-mimicking CT phantoms

Phantoms are essential for minimizing radiation-intensive experiments on humans and enhancing patient safety through model-based teaching and experimentation. While many phantoms are commercially available, their widespread use is limited by manufacturing complexity and high costs. This study aims to demonstrate a dough-based method to create customizable, realistic CT phantoms using affordable, readily available ingredients.

For this study, various doughs composed of flour, salt, water, and oil were created, scanned, and evaluated to assess their suitability for CT applications. Additionally, the effects of storage conditions, preservation, and temperature variations were analyzed. As an example, a liver was segmented from a 3D CT scan, scaled to 1:2, and a negative mold was 3D printed. The mold was subsequently filled with the most suitable dough composition to replicate the organ's anatomy and density.

The evaluation of the scanned ingredients and doughs demonstrated that Hounsfield unit (HU) values ranging from below -200 HU to above 1200 HU can be achieved, enabling the simulation of various human tissue densities. Based on the analysis, simple recipes are proposed to replicate radiodensities of different anatomical structures. Additionally, the results from the liver phantom confirm the feasibility of mimicking liver tissue and morphology.

CT phantoms with specific radiodensities, mimicking human tissues, can be created using simple dough recipes, as demonstrated with our liver CT phantom. Refrigeration or freezing extends usability for a longer time, but temperature effects must be considered to ensure accurate HU values in CT scans.

Question CT phantoms are costly and complex, limiting accessibility for customized imaging studies. Can common ingredients from the kitchen be used to create tissue-mimicking phantoms? Findings The dough-based phantoms simulated radiodensities from -200 to 1200+ HU, enabling the simulation of various human tissue densities. Clinical relevance Affordable, anatomically accurate CT phantoms can be made from kitchen ingredients for training and research, as demonstrated with our liver CT phantom.