The radiological properties of a novel lung tissue substitute

Abstract

Lung phantoms have been manufactured using commercially available, polyurethane foam products. Some of these materials are no longer available; therefore, a new lung tissue substitute was developed. The elemental composition and radiological properties of the new lung tissue substitute are described in this paper. Because the lung tissue substitute will be used to manufacture phantom lungs that will be used to evaluate chest counting systems, it is necessary to know the radiological properties of the material. These properties must be compared with reference materials and materials that have been used for lung phantoms in the past. The radiological properties of interest include the electron density, mean excitation energy, electron stopping power and photon mass attenuation coefficients. In all these properties, the calculated values for the new lung tissue substitute closely matched the calculated values of ICRU Publication 44 lung tissue. Good agreement was also found when the new lung tissue substitute was compared with the Griffith lung tissue substitute described by the ICRU. The new material was determined to be an excellent lung tissue substitute.