TY - JOUR
T1 - Projection-based stereolithography for direct 3D printing of heterogeneous ultrasound phantoms
AU - Paulsen, Samantha J.
AU - Mitcham, Trevor M.
AU - Pan, Charlene S.
AU - Long, James
AU - Grigoryan, Bagrat
AU - Sazer, Daniel W.
AU - Harlan, Collin J.
AU - Janson, Kevin D.
AU - Pagel, Mark D.
AU - Miller, Jordan S.
AU - Bouchard, Richard R.
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported in part by the U. S. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health F31 NRSA Fellowship (S.J.P., HL134295; https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/grants-and-training/training-and-career-development); the Rice University Special Endowed Nettie S. Autrey Fellowship (S.J.P.; https://graduate.rice.edu/financialsupport); the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship (B.G., 1450681; https://www.nsfgrfp.org/); and a training fellowship from the Gulf Coast Consortia on the NSF IGERT: Neuroengineering from Cells to Systems (D.W.S.,1250104; http://www. gulfcoastconsortia.org/home/training/neuroengineering-igert/); the National Cancer Institute of the National Institute of Health R21 Exploratory/Developmental Research Grant Award (RRB; 1R21CA234526; https://grants.nih.gov/grants/funding/r21.htm). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Paulsen et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
PY - 2021/12
Y1 - 2021/12
N2 - Modern ultrasound (US) imaging is increasing its clinical impact, particularly with the introduction of US-based quantitative imaging biomarkers. Continued development and validation of such novel imaging approaches requires imaging phantoms that recapitulate the underlying anatomy and pathology of interest. However, current US phantom designs are generally too simplistic to emulate the structure and variability of the human body. Therefore, there is a need to create a platform that is capable of generating well-characterized phantoms that can mimic the basic anatomical, functional, and mechanical properties of native tissues and pathologies. Using a 3D-printing technique based on stereolithography, we fabricated US phantoms using soft materials in a single fabrication session, without the need for material casting or back-filling. With this technique, we induced variable levels of stable US backscatter in our printed materials in anatomically relevant 3D patterns. Additionally, we controlled phantom stiffness from 7 to >120 kPa at the voxel level to generate isotropic and anisotropic phantoms for elasticity imaging. Lastly, we demonstrated the fabrication of channels with diameters as small as 60 micrometers and with complex geometry (e.g., tortuosity) capable of supporting blood-mimicking fluid flow. Collectively, these results show that projection-based stereolithography allows for customizable fabrication of complex US phantoms.
AB - Modern ultrasound (US) imaging is increasing its clinical impact, particularly with the introduction of US-based quantitative imaging biomarkers. Continued development and validation of such novel imaging approaches requires imaging phantoms that recapitulate the underlying anatomy and pathology of interest. However, current US phantom designs are generally too simplistic to emulate the structure and variability of the human body. Therefore, there is a need to create a platform that is capable of generating well-characterized phantoms that can mimic the basic anatomical, functional, and mechanical properties of native tissues and pathologies. Using a 3D-printing technique based on stereolithography, we fabricated US phantoms using soft materials in a single fabrication session, without the need for material casting or back-filling. With this technique, we induced variable levels of stable US backscatter in our printed materials in anatomically relevant 3D patterns. Additionally, we controlled phantom stiffness from 7 to >120 kPa at the voxel level to generate isotropic and anisotropic phantoms for elasticity imaging. Lastly, we demonstrated the fabrication of channels with diameters as small as 60 micrometers and with complex geometry (e.g., tortuosity) capable of supporting blood-mimicking fluid flow. Collectively, these results show that projection-based stereolithography allows for customizable fabrication of complex US phantoms.
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U2 - 10.1371/journal.pone.0260737
DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0260737
M3 - Article
C2 - 34882719
AN - SCOPUS:85121040132
SN - 1932-6203
VL - 16
JO - PloS one
JF - PloS one
IS - 12 December
M1 - e0260737
ER -