Abstract
This study aimed to introduce an alternative, inexpensive, and straightforward polymer with specific mechanical and dielectric properties suitable for the fabrication of a clinical-grade kidney phantom. Two polymer-based phantom materials, polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and silicone elastomer (SE), were investigated for their capability to meet the requirements. The concentration ratios of base to curing agent (B/C) were 9.5/1.5, 19/3, 10/1, 20/2, 10.5/0.5, and 21/1 for PDMS and 4.5/5.5, 10/12, 5/5, 11/11, 5.5/4.5, and 12/10 for SE. All samples were mixed, degassed, and poured into Petri dishes and small beakers. The polymer was cured under room temperature for 2 h and then demolded from the hard mold. The air bubbles produced were removed using a vacuum desiccator for 30 min. All samples underwent mechanical testing (tensile strength and elastic modulus), and their dielectric properties were measured using a dielectric probe kit equipped with 85071E materials measurement software. The radiation attenuation properties were also measured using PhyX-Zetra for PDMS phantoms with the chemical formula C2H6OSi. Small changes in base and cross-linker play an essential role in modifying the elastic modulus and tensile strength. The effective atomic number of PDMS showed a similar pattern with human kidney tissue at the intermediate energy level of 1.50 × 10−1 to 1 MeV. Therefore, PDMS can potentially be used to mimic the human kidney in terms of tensile strength, flexibility, the acceptable real part of the complex dielectric constant ε′r, and conductivity, which allows it to be used as a stable kidney phantom for medical imaging purposes.
Highlights
IntroductionThe therapeutic uses of radiation have proliferated and evolved since the discovery of X-rays
This study only focused on the chemical formula of PDMS since PDMS is found to be the material of choice to be used as the kidney phantom due to its effective atomic number, high elastic modulus, and comparable real part of the complex dielectric constant ε0 r, as reported by other researchers [4,17]
This research work presents a simple method of characterizing a sample by investigating the mechanical and dielectric properties of various mixtures of the polymers PDMS and silicone elastomer (SE)
Summary
The therapeutic uses of radiation have proliferated and evolved since the discovery of X-rays. People are reluctant to volunteer for radiation-based experiments. Physicists have developed a tissue substitute, known as a phantom, to simulate the response of real patients, which can be used for dosimetry measurements and identification of the limits of a particular system [1,2,3,4]. This phantom could be used to imitate living subjects and prevent unnecessary radiation delivered to human patients
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