Development of a composite material phantom mimicking the magnetic resonance parameters of the neonatal brain at 3.0 Tesla.
OBJECTIVE
Development of a composite material phantom, comprised of polyvinyl alcohol cryogel (PVA-C) and an agarose additive, to effectively mimic the magnetic resonance relaxation times (T1 and T2) of neonatal white matter (WM) and gray matter (GM) at 3.0 T.


METHODS
Samples of PVA-C with and without agarose were prepared with 1 cycle of freezing/thawing. Measurements of T1 and T2, at 3.0 T, were performed on the samples at temperatures ranging from 20 degrees C to 40 degrees C.


RESULTS
A sample temperature of 40 degrees C was required to achieve a T1 value sufficiently long to represent neonatal WM. At this temperature, neonatal WM relaxation times required 3% PVA-C with 0.3% agarose, whereas gray matter relaxation times required 8% PVA-C with 1.4% agarose.


CONCLUSIONS
By adjusting the sample temperature, polyvinyl alcohol concentration, and agarose concentration, the relaxation times of neonatal brain tissues can be obtained using this composite material.
Orr
Timothy N
TN
Imaging Division, Lawson Health Research Institute, London, Ontario, Canada.
Paliy
Inna
I
Winter
Jeff
J
Campbell
Gordon
G
Thompson
R Terry
RT
Gelman
Neil
N
D001921:Brain / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D008420:Manufactured Materials; D008422:Materials Testing; D009413:Nerve Fibers, Myelinated / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D009474:Neurons / Q000166:cytology*; D019047:Phantoms, Imaging