Purpose

Flow phantoms are used in experimental settings to aid in the simulation of blood flow. Custom geometries are available, but current phantom materials present issues with degradability and/or mimicking the mechanical properties of human tissue. In this study, a method of fabricating custom wall-less flow phantoms from a tissue-mimicking gel using 3D printed inserts is developed.

Methods

A 3D blood vessel geometry example of a bifurcated artery model was 3D printed in polyvinyl alcohol, embedded in tissue-mimicking gel, and subsequently dissolved to create a phantom. Uniaxial compression testing was performed to determine the Young’s moduli of the five gel types. Angle-independent, ultrasound-based imaging modalities, Vector Flow Imaging (VFI) and Blood Speckle Imaging (BSI), were utilized for flow visualization of a straight channel phantom.

Results

A wall-less phantom of the bifurcated artery was fabricated with minimal bubbles and continuous flow demonstrated. Additionally, flow was visualized through a straight channel phantom by VFI and BSI. The available gel types are suitable for mimicking a variety of tissue types, including cardiac tissue and blood vessels.

Conclusion

Custom, tissue-mimicking flow phantoms can be fabricated using the developed methodology and have potential for use in a variety of applications, including ultrasound-based imaging methods. This is the first reported use of BSI with an in vitro flow phantom.

中文翻译：

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使用组织模拟凝胶开发定制无壁心血管流模型

 目的

流动模型用于实验环境中以帮助模拟血流。定制的几何形状是可用的，但目前的模型材料存在可降解性和/或模仿人体组织机械性能的问题。在这项研究中，开发了一种使用 3D 打印插入物从模拟组织凝胶制造定制无壁流动模型的方法。

 方法

分叉动脉模型的 3D 血管几何形状示例是用聚乙烯醇 3D 打印的，嵌入模拟组织凝胶中，随后溶解以创建模型。进行单轴压缩测试以确定五种凝胶类型的杨氏模量。与角度无关的基于超声的成像方式、矢量流成像 (VFI) 和血斑成像 (BSI) 用于直通道体模的流可视化。

 结果

制作了分叉动脉的无壁模型，具有最小的气泡和连续流动。此外，通过 VFI 和 BSI 通过直通道模型对流动进行可视化。可用的凝胶类型适合模拟各种组织类型，包括心脏组织和血管。

 结论

可以使用开发的方法来制造定制的、模拟组织的流动模型，并且具有用于各种应用的潜力，包括基于超声的成像方法。这是首次报道将 BSI 与体外流动体模结合使用。