Abstract
Tissue equivalent materials (TEM) are frequently used in research as a means to determine the delivered dose to patients undergoing various therapeutic procedures. They are used in routine quality assurance and quality control procedures in diagnostic and therapeutic physics. However, very few materials that are tissue equivalent have been developed for use in research at the low photon energies involved in diagnosis radiology. The objective of this study is to describe a series of TEMs designed to radiographically imitate human tissue at diagnostic photon energies. TEMs for adipose, cortical bone, fat, lung, and muscle tissues were investigated in terms of energy absorption and exposure buildup factors for photon energy range 15–150 keV and for penetration depths up to 40 mean free path. BUF was computed based on GP-fitting method. Moreover, we also compared some radiological properties, including the total attenuation and the energy-absorption attenuation, the effective atomic number, and the CT number at 30, 100, and 120 kVp. We found that SB3, Glycerol trioleate, and MS15 perfectly mimic cortical bone, fat, and muscle tissues, respectively. Additionally, AP6 and Stracey latex are good TEM for adipose and lung tissues, respectively. The results of this work should be useful in radiation diagnosis and dosimetry applications for the large physician researcher community.
Highlights
Reproducing tissue seems impossible due to different compositions among humans [1]
These are known as tissue equivalent materials (TEMs)
We focused on AP6, Ethoxyethanol, and Polyethylene as TEM candidates to adipose tissue; Aluminium, P.V.C., SB3, Teflon, and Witt liquid for cortical bone tissue; Alderson fat, FT1, and Glycerol trioleate for fat tissue; Alderson lung, LN1, and Stacey latex for lung tissue and Alderson muscle 1, Alderson muscle 2, Bakelite, Goodman liquid, Lexan, M3, Mix D, MS15, MS20, Nylon-6, Paraffin wax, Perspex, Polystyrene, Shonka plastic, Temex, and Water for muscle tissue, with all elemental compositions (Table 1) provided by White [11]
Summary
Reproducing tissue seems impossible due to different compositions among humans [1]. New opportunities to develop materials that look and feel as close to human tissue as possible are presented with every innovation in manufacturing and material science. These are known as tissue equivalent materials (TEMs). They can be used in diagnostic and therapeutic physics for quality assurance and control. To develop TEMs in ultrasound, a set of international standards [2] is typically used. It is not possible to create TEMs under standard operating procedures for MRI, surgery, or thermal therapies. Surgery is the only field that has published guidelines on developing TEMs [3]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
