Design and Production of Two-Piece Thyroid-Neck Phantom by the Concurrent Use of Epoxy Resin and Poly(Methyl Methacrylate) Soft Tissue Equivalent Materials

Karimi, M; Mostaghimi, H; Shams, S. F; Mehdizadeh, A R

doi:10.31661/jbpe.v8i2.952

Design and Production of Two-Piece Thyroid-Neck Phantom by the Concurrent Use of Epoxy Resin and Poly(Methyl Methacrylate) Soft Tissue Equivalent Materials

Document Type : Technical Note

Authors

M Karimi ¹

H Mostaghimi ¹^{, 2}

S. F Shams ¹

A R Mehdizadeh ¹

¹ Department of Biomedical Physics and Engineering, School of Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran

² Advanced Health Technologies Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran

https://doi.org/10.31661/jbpe.v8i2.952

Abstract

The aim of this report is to present a new two-piece thyroid-neck phantom produced by the concurrent use of epoxy resin and poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA: plexiglass) soft tissue equivalent materials. Accordingly, mass attenuation coefficients of the epoxy resin and the plexiglass compounds were obtained from simulation (NIST XCOM 3.1) and measurements (practical dosimetry) and compared to those related to human soft tissue (ICRU 44). The thyroid-neck phantom and thyroid gland dimensions were derived from scientific references and the atlas of human anatomy, respectively. The thyroid phantom was designed by CATIA V5R16 software and produced by the epoxy resin compound by three-dimensional printer. Other organs were designed by ProNest software and made by the plexiglass sheets by CNC laser cutting machine. The mass attenuation coefficients for the epoxy resin (50 keV- 20 MeV) and the plexiglass (0-20 MeV) were comparable to human soft tissue (ICRU 44), all with standard relative deviation beneath 5%. In addition, the SPECT images indicated the similarity between human thyroid tissue and its phantom. In conclusion, this study proves the feasibility and reliability of epoxy resin application in the production of two-piece thyroid-neck phantom. This phantom can be applied in the calibration of gamma camera systems, dosimetry and gamma spectrometry in the nuclear medicine field.

Keywords

Thyroid-neck phantom

Nuclear medicine

epoxy resin

plexiglass

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