Gatto, M*; Memoli, G; Shaw, A; Sadhoo, N; Gélat, P N; Harris, R A* (2012) Three-dimensional printing (3DP) of neonatal head phantom for ultrasound: thermocouple embedding and simulation of bone. Med. Eng. Phys., 34 (7). pp. 929-937.

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Abstract

An objective assessment of the thermal effect of trans-cranial ultrasound examination performed on neonatal patients was required, owing to the possible risk of temperature increase on scanned tissues. An appropriate neonatal head phantom, comprising of an ellipsoidal geometry and including a circular aperture for simulating the fontanel was designed and fabricated. The precise position of a series of thermocouples was determined on the basis of finite-element analysis, which identified crucial target points for the thermal monitoring within the phantom geometry. Three-Dimensional Printing (3DP) was employed for the manufacture of the skull phantom, which was subsequently filled with brain-mimic material. A novel 3DP material combination was found to be able to mimic the acoustic properties of neonatal skull bone. A specific strategy was successfully pursued to embed a thermocouple within the 3DP skull phantom during the manufacturing process. An in-process machine vision system was used to assess the correct position of the deposited thermocouple inside the fabricated skull phantom. An external silicone-made skin-like covering completed the phantom and was manufactured through a Direct Rapid Tooling (DRT) technique.

Item Type:	Article
Keywords:	ultrasonic, phantoms, transcranial
Subjects:	Acoustics Acoustics > Ultrasound
Identification number/DOI:	10.1016/j.medengphy.2011.10.012
Last Modified:	02 Feb 2018 13:14
URI:	http://eprintspublications.npl.co.uk/id/eprint/5552

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