Evaluation of Biomechanical Properties of Phantom for Elastography Ultrasound Using Polyvinyl Chloride Plastisol–Glycerol
摘要
Phantom materials with acoustic and mechanical characteristics resembling tissues are essential for ensuring ultrasound device quality. This study aimed to evaluate the biomechanical and acoustic properties of polyvinyl chloride plastisol (PVCP) modified with glycerol at various concentrations to mimic the mechanical properties of human soft tissues used in ultrasonic elastography. Four types of phantoms were made with 0, 3, 5, and 10% glycerol added to the PVCP solution. Furthermore, the mixture of each phantom composition was stirred at a speed of 350 rpm and temperature of 180°C until homogeneous. The mixture was poured into three types of molds for each test. Finally, each phantom sample was evaluated using the density, sound speed, attenuation, viscoelasticity, and shear elasticity parameters from shear wave elastography. This study showed that the density of the PVCP phantom ranged from 1.058 to 1.088 g/cm3, the speed of sound was 1562.86 ± 14.99 to 1609.70 ± 13.91 m/s, and attenuation coefficient was 1.29 ± 0.054 to 2.97 ± 0.108 dB/cm at a frequency of 5 MHz. These values are within the range of liver and glandular breast tissue properties with variations below 6.87%. The Kelvin–Voigt model shows that the phantom with 5% glycerol has shear modules and viscosity equivalent to glandular breast tissue. The addition of glycerol allows the regulation of the acoustic and viscoelastic properties of the PVCP phantom in line with soft tissues, both healthy and pathological, making it ideal for ultrasound simulation and elastography. This study successfully created a phantom for ultrasound elastography imaging.