Three-Dimensional Printing (3DP) of neonatal head phantom for ultrasound: Thermocouple embedding and simulation of bone

Abstract A neonatal head phantom, comprising of an ellipsoidal geometry and including a circular aperture for simulating the fontanel was designed and fabricated, in order to allow an objective assessment of thermal rise in tissues during trans-cranial ultrasonic scanning of pre-term neonates. The p...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Medical engineering & physics 2012-09, Vol.34 (7), p.929-937
Main Authors: Gatto, Matteo, Memoli, Gianluca, Shaw, Adam, Sadhoo, Neelaksh, Gelat, Pierre, Harris, Russell A
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acoustics
Biological and medical sciences
Biomimetics
Bone
Brain
Electricity
Embedding
Finite Element Analysis
Head
Head - diagnostic imaging
Humans
Infant, Newborn
Infants
Investigative techniques, diagnostic techniques (general aspects)
Mathematical models
Medical sciences
Miscellaneous. Technology
Neonates
Phantom
Phantoms, Imaging
Printing
Printing - methods
Radiology
Rapid Prototyping
Rapid Tooling
Reproducibility of Results
Scanning
Skin
Skull
Skull - diagnostic imaging
Thermocouple
Three-Dimensional Printing
Ultrasonic investigative techniques
Ultrasonography - instrumentation
Ultrasound
Vision
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Summary:Abstract A neonatal head phantom, comprising of an ellipsoidal geometry and including a circular aperture for simulating the fontanel was designed and fabricated, in order to allow an objective assessment of thermal rise in tissues during trans-cranial ultrasonic scanning of pre-term neonates. The precise position of a series of thermocouples was determined on the basis of finite-element analysis, which identified crucial target points for the thermal monitoring within the phantom geometry. Three-Dimensional Printing (3DP) was employed for the manufacture of the skull phantom, which was subsequently filled with dedicated brain-mimic material. A novel 3DP material combination was found to be able to mimic the acoustic properties of neonatal skull bone. Similarly, variations of a standard recipe for tissue mimic were examined, until one was found to mimic the brain of an infant. A specific strategy was successfully pursued to embed a thermocouple within the 3DP skull phantom during the manufacturing process. An in-process machine vision system was used to assess the correct position of the deposited thermocouple inside the fabricated skull phantom. An external silicone-made skin-like covering completed the phantom and was manufactured through a Direct Rapid Tooling (DRT) technique.
ISSN:1350-4533
1873-4030
DOI:10.1016/j.medengphy.2011.10.012