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Title: WE-D-18A-05: Construction of Realistic Liver Phantoms From Patient Images and a Commercial 3D Printer

Abstract

Purpose: To assess image quality and radiation dose reduction in abdominal CT imaging, physical phantoms having realistic background textures and lesions are highly desirable. The purpose of this work was to construct a liver phantom with realistic background and lesions using patient CT images and a 3D printer. Methods: Patient CT images containing liver lesions were segmented into liver tissue, contrast-enhanced vessels, and liver lesions using commercial software (Mimics, Materialise, Belgium). Stereolithography (STL) files of each segmented object were created and imported to a 3D printer (Object350 Connex, Stratasys, MN). After test scans were performed to map the eight available printing materials into CT numbers, printing materials were assigned to each object and a physical liver phantom printed. The printed phantom was scanned on a clinical CT scanner and resulting images were compared with the original patient CT images. Results: The eight available materials used to print the liver phantom had CT number ranging from 62 to 117 HU. In scans of the liver phantom, the liver lesions and veins represented in the STL files were all visible. Although the absolute value of the CT number in the background liver material (approx. 85 HU) was higher than in patients (approx.more » 40 HU), the difference in CT numbers between lesions and background were representative of the low contrast values needed for optimization tasks. Future work will investigate materials with contrast sufficient to emulate contrast-enhanced arteries. Conclusion: Realistic liver phantoms can be constructed from patient CT images using a commercial 3D printer. This technique may provide phantoms able to determine the effect of radiation dose reduction and noise reduction techniques on the ability to detect subtle liver lesions in the context of realistic background textures.« less

Authors:
; ; ; ; ; ;  [1]
  1. Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN (United States)
Publication Date:
OSTI Identifier:
22407894
Resource Type:
Journal Article
Journal Name:
Medical Physics
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 41; Journal Issue: 6; Other Information: (c) 2014 American Association of Physicists in Medicine; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); Journal ID: ISSN 0094-2405
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES; ARTERIES; CAT SCANNING; IMAGE PROCESSING; LIVER; PATIENTS; PHANTOMS; RADIATION DOSES; VEINS

Citation Formats

Leng, S, Vrieze, T, Kuhlmann, J, Yu, L, Matsumoto, J, Morris, J, and McCollough, C. WE-D-18A-05: Construction of Realistic Liver Phantoms From Patient Images and a Commercial 3D Printer. United States: N. p., 2014. Web. doi:10.1118/1.4889414.
Leng, S, Vrieze, T, Kuhlmann, J, Yu, L, Matsumoto, J, Morris, J, & McCollough, C. WE-D-18A-05: Construction of Realistic Liver Phantoms From Patient Images and a Commercial 3D Printer. United States. https://doi.org/10.1118/1.4889414
Leng, S, Vrieze, T, Kuhlmann, J, Yu, L, Matsumoto, J, Morris, J, and McCollough, C. 2014. "WE-D-18A-05: Construction of Realistic Liver Phantoms From Patient Images and a Commercial 3D Printer". United States. https://doi.org/10.1118/1.4889414.
@article{osti_22407894,
title = {WE-D-18A-05: Construction of Realistic Liver Phantoms From Patient Images and a Commercial 3D Printer},
author = {Leng, S and Vrieze, T and Kuhlmann, J and Yu, L and Matsumoto, J and Morris, J and McCollough, C},
abstractNote = {Purpose: To assess image quality and radiation dose reduction in abdominal CT imaging, physical phantoms having realistic background textures and lesions are highly desirable. The purpose of this work was to construct a liver phantom with realistic background and lesions using patient CT images and a 3D printer. Methods: Patient CT images containing liver lesions were segmented into liver tissue, contrast-enhanced vessels, and liver lesions using commercial software (Mimics, Materialise, Belgium). Stereolithography (STL) files of each segmented object were created and imported to a 3D printer (Object350 Connex, Stratasys, MN). After test scans were performed to map the eight available printing materials into CT numbers, printing materials were assigned to each object and a physical liver phantom printed. The printed phantom was scanned on a clinical CT scanner and resulting images were compared with the original patient CT images. Results: The eight available materials used to print the liver phantom had CT number ranging from 62 to 117 HU. In scans of the liver phantom, the liver lesions and veins represented in the STL files were all visible. Although the absolute value of the CT number in the background liver material (approx. 85 HU) was higher than in patients (approx. 40 HU), the difference in CT numbers between lesions and background were representative of the low contrast values needed for optimization tasks. Future work will investigate materials with contrast sufficient to emulate contrast-enhanced arteries. Conclusion: Realistic liver phantoms can be constructed from patient CT images using a commercial 3D printer. This technique may provide phantoms able to determine the effect of radiation dose reduction and noise reduction techniques on the ability to detect subtle liver lesions in the context of realistic background textures.},
doi = {10.1118/1.4889414},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/22407894}, journal = {Medical Physics},
issn = {0094-2405},
number = 6,
volume = 41,
place = {United States},
year = {Sun Jun 15 00:00:00 EDT 2014},
month = {Sun Jun 15 00:00:00 EDT 2014}
}