PVA based Anatomical Phantom of Rat Liver for Ultrasound Imaging

Ultrasound (US) anatomical imaging phantoms are crucial in medical imaging, training, and quality assurance. Our primary goal is to design and fabricate a versatile and realistic phantom, utilizing 3D printing, silicone moulds, and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) as critical materials. This work includes the creation of a PVA-based rat liver phantom that replicates the acoustic and mechanical properties of real tissue. It achieves a sound speed of $1,543 \pm 6 \mathrm{~m} / \mathrm{s}$, an acoustic impedance of $1.66 \pm 0.01$ Mrayl, attenuation coefficients of $0.09 \pm 0.01$ $\mathrm{dB} / \mathrm{cm} / \mathrm{MHz}$, and the density of the phantom is $1,070 \mathrm{~kg} / \mathrm{m}^{3}$, all falling within the established range observed of biological tissues. Our research introduces tissue-mimicking phantoms to fulfill researchers’ needs for experimental dataset generation and in order to train clinicians for skill improvement. The PVA-based rat liver phantom brings new opportunities to US imaging, that benefit research and clinical practice.