Design and CT imaging of Casper, an anthropomorphic breathing thorax phantom

TL;DR

This paper presents Casper, a 3D-printed anthropomorphic thorax phantom capable of simulating breathing motion and tissue properties for CT imaging, aiding in the development and testing of imaging techniques.

Contribution

The work introduces a novel, realistic thorax phantom with breathing motion, constructed using 3D printing and tissue-mimicking materials, validated through CT imaging.

Findings

CT numbers of materials closely match human tissues

Tumour motion displacement measured at 0.7 cm for 2 cm diaphragm movement

Tumour volume estimation accuracy with mean absolute error of 4.3% in static images

Abstract

The goal of this work was to build an anthropomorphic thorax phantom capable of breathing motion with materials mimicking human tissues in x-ray imaging applications. The thorax phantom, named Casper, was composed of resin (body), foam (lungs), glow polyactic acid (bones) and natural polyactic acid (tumours placed in the lungs). X-ray attenuation properties of all materials prior to manufacturing were evaluated by means of photon-counting computed tomography (CT) imaging on a table-top system. Breathing motion was achieved by a scotch-yoke mechanism with diaphragm motion frequencies of 10 - 20 rpm and displacements of 1 to 2 cm. Casper was manufactured by means of 3D printing of moulds and ribs and assembled in a complex process. The final phantom was then scanned using a clinical CT scanner to evaluate material CT numbers and the extent of tumour motion. Casper CT numbers were close to human CT numbers for soft tissue (46 HU), ribs (125 HU), lungs (-840 HU) and tumours (-45 HU). For a 2 cm diaphragm displacement the largest tumour displacement was 0.7 cm. The five tumour volumes were accurately assessed in the static CT images with a mean absolute error of 4.3%. Tumour sizes were either underestimated for smaller tumours or overestimated for larger tumours in dynamic CT images due to motion blurring with a mean absolute difference from true volumes of 10.3%.