Ultrasound imaging characterization on tissue mimicking materials for cardiac tissue phantom: Texture analysis perspective

Abstract

Cardiac tissue phantom is a synthetic physical model to mimic the characteristics of actual cardiac tissues. Tissue Mimicking Materials have been widely used as materials for medical imaging phantom. In cardiac ultrasound imaging, phantoms have been used for system verification, simulation and training for cardiovascular radiography. In this study, we aimed to characterize the structure of cardiac tissue phantom by performing ultrasound imaging and texture analysis. The phantom samples were developed by mixing Silicone Rubber with Calcium Carbonate in different percentages. Ultrasound imaging with various Dynamic Range settings (30, 60, and 90 dB) was used to scan the phantom samples. First-, Second-, and Higher order Statistical Texture Analyses were used to quantify structural features of the phantom samples. As comparison, one ultrasound image of adult heart was also characterized. The results show that the addition of Calcium Carbonate affected the imaging structure of the phantom samples. Textural comparison with the ultrasound image of adult heart confirmed that phantom with Silicon Rubber and 8% of Calcium carbonate had closest texture features.