Development of long-term stability high-viscosity gel phantom for evaluation of elasticity and safety

2016 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 26670299
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Medical Physics and Radiological Technology
• Research Institution: Chiba University
• Principal Investigator: Suga Mikio 千葉大学, フロンティア医工学センター, 准教授 (00294281)
• Co-Investigator(Renkei-kenkyūsha): KUROKAWA TAKAYUKI 北海道大学, 大学院先端生命科学研究院, 准教授 (40451439)
• Project Period (FY): 2014-04-01 – 2017-03-31
• Keywords: 生体物性計測 / 粘弾性 / 定量評価 / ファントム / エラストグラフィ / MRI / 超音波診断装置

Outline of Final Research Achievements

It has become common in clinical practice to use magnetic resonance elastography (MRE) for noninvasive evaluation of tissue elasticity. To assess quantitativity and repeatability of MRE systems and to compare viscoelastic parameters between different MRE systems, a quantitative phantom is required. We have developed phantoms for this purpose. However, the phantoms were not suitable for clinical practice because the viscosity is lower than those of human tissue. The purpose of this study was to develop a tissue-simulating tough and stable phantom for MRE. To increase the viscosity, 40wt% glycerin was added to phantom. MRE measurements were performed on a 3 T and 0.3 T MRI using a spin-echo (SE) EPI-MRE pulse sequence. The loss tangent (ratio of the loss and storage moduli) of the new gel was significantly larger than that of the polyacrylamide gel by itself. In this study, we successfully increased the viscosity of a phantom by adding glycerin, and assess stability of the phantom.

Free Research Field

生体工学