Breast Ultrasound Phantom

1. Melissa Costa
Senior Project 09-10
Breast Ultrasound Phantom

2. Introduction to Ultrasound
 What is ultrasound imaging?
 Also called scanning or sonography
 Through a transducer or scanhead, the body is exposed to high-
frequency sound waves
 The sound waves hit features inside the body and reflect back
to the scanhead
 The microphone in the scanhead records the echoing waves,
and the information is sent to a computer
 The computer then creates a real-time picture on the monitor
 By measuring these echo waves it is possible to determine how
far away the object is and its size, shape, and consistency
(whether the object is solid or filled with fluid)

3. Ultrasound Phantoms
 What are Ultrasound Phantoms and what are they
used for?
 A Phantom is a material that mimics tissue, for teaching
people to learn to scan, or for developing scanheads so
engineers don't need live tissue present.
 What is the difference between homemade and
manufactured phantoms?
 Manufactured phantoms are not very true to live tissue
because manufactured phantoms are very uniform in how they
look under ultrasound. (see next slide)

4. Manufactured Phantom vs.
Live Tissue
Blue Phantom Breast Phantom Live Tissue

5. SonoSite M-Turbo System

6. Phantom #1: Recipe
 Ingredients: H2O, mandarin oranges, gelatin packets,
Metamucil (see picture right)
 Ratios (for every 250 mL of H2O):
 1 tbsp Metamucil and 3 gelatin packets
1. Boil 250 mL of water
2. Gently whisk in 3 gelatin packets
(see picture right)
3. Slowly stir in 1 tbsp of Metamucil and
remove any undissolved chunks

7. Phantom #1: Recipe cont’d
4. Pour 250 mL into container and
refrigerate for 1-2 hrs
5. Add mandarin oranges and make sure
fruit isn’t touching (see picture right)
6. Refrigerate for 1 hour
7. Repeat steps 1-4 for top
layer (see picture right)

8. Phantom #1: Diagram

9. Phantom #1: Scanned Image

10. Phantom #2: Recipe
 The recipe is the exact same but instead of 2 layers,
there are 3
 The measurements for the ingredients in each layer are:
 166.6 mL of H2O
 2 gelatin packets
 2 tsp of Metamucil (3 tsp=1tbsp)

11. Phantom #2: Diagram

12. Phantom #2: Scanned Image 1

13. Phantom #2: Scanned Image 2

14. Phantom #3: Recipe
 My idea for this phantom was to chill 6 layers at
different angles, in an attempt to create more
amorphous layers
 The measurements for the ingredients in each layer are:
 83.3 mL of H2O
 1 gelatin packet
 <1 tsp of Metamucil (about 5/6 tsp)

15. Phantom #3: Diagram

16. Phantom #3: Scanned Image 1

17. Phantom #3: Scanned Image 2

18. Phantom #3: Scanned Image 3

19. Phantom #4: Recipe
1. Pack a container with a can of mandarin oranges, so
they just barely touch and stack nicely
2. Slowly pour the gelatin/Metamucil solution over the
oranges, trying not to disrupt their form, and leaving
about half an inch of gelatin/Metamucil solution at the
top
 The measurements for the ingredients in each layer
are:
 416.6 mL of H2O
 5 gelatin packets
 5 tsp of Metamucil

20. Phantom #4: Diagram

21. Phantom #4: Scanned Image 1

22. Phantom #4: Scanned Image 2

23. Phantom #4: Scanned Image 3

24. Final Product Comparison
My Phantom Live Tissue

25. Conclusion
 What I learned/Usefulness: Use less Metamucil than
recipe– my project helped the ultrasound engineers
know how much Metamucil to use for different body
parts, and specifically how much Metamucil to use for
breast tissue
 What I would do next: If I had access to a walk in
refrigerator, I would try recipe #4, but rotate the
container as the gelatin was congealing

26. THANK YOU!