A High-Definition 3D-Printed Anthropomorphic MR Head Phantom

To empower MR scientists and clinicians to produce customized, high-definition anthropomorphic MRI phantoms directly from patient or volunteer DICOM images using commercially available 3D printers and printing materials.

Suitable 3D printing materials were identified and calibrated to reproduce target MR image contrasts when scanned using clinical MR sequences with default acquisition parameters. A custom software tool was developed to convert the DICOM images into 3D-printing material maps, in which micrometer-scale droplets of three distinct printing materials were spatially intermixed to replicate tissue-equivalent contrasts consistent with those in the source MR images.

A prototype MR head phantom was fabricated based on 0.5 × 0.5 × 1.0 mm³ resolution head images acquired from a volunteer. When scanned with clinical MR sequences across various contrast settings, the phantom images reproduced fine anatomical details, demonstrating the phantom's ability to replicate realistic anatomy.

This work advances the efforts to bridge the gap between the needs of researchers and clinicians for MRI phantoms with realistic anatomy and tissue-specific contrast, and the practical availability of such phantoms to all interested users. The approach eliminates the need for complex image segmentation, advanced computer-aided design (CAD) skills, specialized manufacturing techniques, or in-depth knowledge of material science.