Novel pore size‐controlled, susceptibility matched, 3D‐printed MRI phantoms

Purpose We report the design concept and fabrication of MRI phantoms, containing blocks of aligned microcapillaires that can be stacked into larger arrays to construct diameter distribution phantoms or fractured, to create a “powder‐averaged” emulsion of randomly oriented blocks for vetting or calib...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Magnetic resonance in medicine 2024-06, Vol.91 (6), p.2431-2442
Main Authors: Witherspoon, Velencia J., Komlosh, Michal E., Benjamini, Dan, Özarslan, Evren, Lavrik, Nickolay, Basser, Peter J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
anisotropic phantom
Anisotropy
Capillaries
Coding
DDE
diameter
Diameters
Diffusion
Diffusion barriers
DTI
Fabrication
Magnetic resonance imaging
Medical imaging
Microstructure
Pore size
random orientation
Tensors
Three dimensional printing
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Summary:Purpose We report the design concept and fabrication of MRI phantoms, containing blocks of aligned microcapillaires that can be stacked into larger arrays to construct diameter distribution phantoms or fractured, to create a “powder‐averaged” emulsion of randomly oriented blocks for vetting or calibrating advanced MRI methods, that is, diffusion tensor imaging, AxCaliber MRI, MAP‐MRI, and multiple pulsed field gradient or double diffusion‐encoded microstructure imaging methods. The goal was to create a susceptibility‐matched microscopically anisotropic but macroscopically isotropic phantom with a ground truth diameter that could be used to vet advanced diffusion methods for diameter determination in fibrous tissues. Methods Two‐photon polymerization, a novel three‐dimensional printing method is used to fabricate blocks of capillaries. Double diffusion encoding methods were employed and analyzed to estimate the expected MRI diameter. Results Susceptibility‐matched microcapillary blocks or modules that can be assembled into large‐scale MRI phantoms have been fabricated and measured using advanced diffusion methods, resulting in microscopic anisotropy and random orientation. Conclusion This phantom can vet and calibrate various advanced MRI methods and multiple pulsed field gradient or diffusion‐encoded microstructure imaging methods. We demonstrated that two double diffusion encoding methods underestimated the ground truth diameter.
ISSN:0740-3194
1522-2594
1522-2594
DOI:10.1002/mrm.30029