Development of a novel paediatric anthropomorphic phantom from epoxy based mixtures for 5 year age child bone tissue equivalency

Zümrüt Demirel S., Yücel H.

RADIATION PHYSICS AND CHEMISTRY, cilt.238, sa.113209, ss.1-9, 2026 (SCI-Expanded)

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 238 Sayı: 113209
  • Basım Tarihi: 2026
  • Doi Numarası: 10.1016/j.radphyschem.2025.113209
  • Dergi Adı: RADIATION PHYSICS AND CHEMISTRY
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus, Academic Search Premier, Aerospace Database, Chemical Abstracts Core, Chimica, Communication Abstracts, Compendex, INSPEC, Metadex, Pollution Abstracts, Civil Engineering Abstracts
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.1-9
  • Ankara Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

Medical imaging phantoms are objects used for simulating human tissues, organs or whole body

to ensure that systems and methods for imaging the human body are operating correctly.

Anthropomorphic phantoms, with their accurate and sensitive response to radiation; they are

special type of phantoms produced to best represent the human being in terms of gender, age,

weight, size and appearance. In this study, it is aimed to produce a prototype of an

anthropomorphic paediatric phantom to represent the 5 year old child. 3D printing and

moulding methods were employed for a paediatric phantom which has novelty since

commercial products of anthropomorphic phantoms are not easily accessible in mostly

countries. For the production of phantom bone parts, some inorganic compounds were added

to a two-component solventless-epoxy matrix. To achieve this, Hounsfield unit (HU) values

obtained from the Computed Tomography (CT) images (between 80-120 kVp) were already

estimated for the test samples for mimicking the bone tissue for a 5-year-old child. In this

study, a two-component room temperature vulcanized(RTV) silicone was also used to create

real-sized flexible moulds for paediatric bone tissue. The epoxy based mixture prepared proper proportions of inorganic powders was filled in the RTV moulds, and waited for solidification

until the end of its curing period. As an indicative quantity, HU values were obtained fro the

radiodensity/radiosensitivity of tissue obtained from CT images. For the paediatric bone tissue,

HU value was determined to be 611±24, in accordance with the literature value ORNL

reference phantom.; a 5-year-age child bone tissue mimicking was obtained. In addition to HU

values, the produced bone tissue is similar to the bone tissue of a 5-year-age child was validated

in terms of its physical density, effective atomic number, and electron density. The soft tissue

parts of an anthropomorphic paediatric phantom were produced from PLA material using a

3D printing. The developed paediatric phantom would be useful in quality control of X-ray

systems and dose optimization studies for the effective application of most paediatric imaging

protocols. The measurements were made on the developed paediatric phantom and taken the

images. Then the obtained results were compared with literature values, and evaluated with the

help of tables and graphs