Novel development of 3D printable UV-curable silicone for multimodal imaging phantom

Abstract

Medical imaging is an effective medical technique used to diagnose the cancer and other diseases. To optimize medical imaging, a calibration medium or phantom with tissue-mimicking properties is required. A phantom is a specially engineered object that is used in calibration or tuning of the medical imaging modalities, specifically Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and Computed Tomography (CT). Most of the phantoms investigated were fabricated with water-based polymer gels such as carrageenan, agar, and poly(vinyl alcohol). However, due to water content fluctuation, the stability of the relaxation times, T1 and T2, are problematic. Therefore, there is a demand for the development of phantoms fabricated from solid material without stability issues. Furthermore, there are potential applications of phantoms as surgical planning tools for health practitioner training. In this study, we fabricated Ultraviolet (UV)-curable silicone with various concentrations of water and hydrophilic silicone content to investigate its mechanical and imaging properties. The results demonstrate that the silicone cures faster with addition of water within 30s to be applicable for 3D printing. Imaging properties for ultrasound, MRI and CT also demonstrated improvement with addition of water content. With optimal properties, silicone can be used to fabricate the phantom using 3D printing technique.