TISSUE-EQUIVALENT MRI CARDIAC PHANTOMS

LONG-TERM OBJECTIVES INCLUDE: (1) DEVELOPMENT OF AN INEXPENSIVE, MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING (MRI) TISSUE-EQUIVALENT MATERIAL; (2) CONSTRUCTION OF MRI QUALITY ASSURANCE STANDARDS; AND (3) DEVELOPMENT OF COMPLEX TISSUE-EQUIVALENT ANTHROPOMORPHIC MRI PHANTOMS TO AID IN DETECTION OF PATHOLOGICAL CONDITIONS. THE FIRST TWO GOALS WILL BENEFIT THE HEALTH CARE INDUSTRY THROUGH THE DEVELOPMENT OF INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGY, PRODUCING COMPLEX PERFORMANCE PHANTOMS TO AID IN THE ASSESSMENT OF NEW MRI DIAGNOSTIC INSTRUMENTATION AND PROVIDING QUALITY ASSURANCE FOR EXISTING SYSTEMS. ATTAINMENT OF THE THIRD GOAL WILL HELP IMPROVE CLINICAL DIAGNOSTIC METHODS AND LEAD TO IMPROVED, LOWER COST PATIENT CARE. GOAL ATTAINMENT IS PREDICATED UPON DEVELOPMENT OF SUITABLE MRI TISSUE-EQUIVALENT SUBSTANCES. PRELIMINARY EXPERIMENTS INDICATE THAT GEL-WATER COMPOSITES, COMPOSED OF A MODIFIED POLYSACCHARIDE USED IN RF-MICROWAVE HYPERTHERMIA PHANTOMS AND APPROPRIATE MODIFYING AGENTS, SHOW PROMISE AS MRI TISSUEEQUIVALENTS. PHASE I WILL INVOLVE SYSTEMATIC EVALUATION OF THE NUCLEAR MAGNETIC RESONANCE (NMR) PROPERTIES OF THIS MATERIAL USING A 7- TO 60-MHZ-PULSED NMR SPECTROMETER, CONSTRUCTION OF TISSUE-LIKE COMPOSITES, AND THE EVALUATION OF COMPOSITE IMAGING QUALITIES AND STABILITY WITH A 0.5 TESLA MRI DEVICE. CONCURRENTLY, NOVEL MOLDING TECHNIQUES TOPRODUCE CONTIGUOUS REGIONS OF DISSIMILAR NMR WILL BE EXAMINED.