title: Three-dimensional printing (3DP) of neonatal head phantom for ultrasound: thermocouple embedding and simulation of bone.
abstract: A neonatal head phantom, comprising of an ellipsoidal geometry and including a circular aperture for simulating the fontanel was designed and fabricated, in order to allow an objective assessment of thermal rise in tissues during trans-cranial ultrasonic scanning of pre-term neonates. The precise position of a series of thermocouples was determined on the basis of finite-element analysis, which identified crucial target points for the thermal monitoring within the phantom geometry. Three-Dimensional Printing (3DP) was employed for the manufacture of the skull phantom, which was subsequently filled with dedicated brain-mimic material. A novel 3DP material combination was found to be able to mimic the acoustic properties of neonatal skull bone. Similarly, variations of a standard recipe for tissue mimic were examined, until one was found to mimic the brain of an infant. A specific strategy was successfully pursued to embed a thermocouple within the 3DP skull phantom during the manufacturing process. An in-process machine vision system was used to assess the correct position of the deposited thermocouple inside the fabricated skull phantom. An external silicone-made skin-like covering completed the phantom and was manufactured through a Direct Rapid Tooling (DRT) technique.
authors: Wolfson School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, Loughborough University, LE11 3TU, United Kingdom. gatto_matteo@libero.it
authors: Matteo
authors: M
authors: Gatto
authors: Gianluca
authors: G
authors: Memoli
authors: Adam
authors: A
authors: Shaw
authors: Neelaksh
authors: N
authors: Sadhoo
authors: Pierre
authors: P
authors: Gelat
authors: Russell A
authors: RA
authors: Harris
mesh_terms: D000162:Acoustics; D032701:Biomimetics; D001921:Brain; D004560:Electricity; D020342:Finite Element Analysis; D006257:Head / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D019047:Phantoms, Imaging; D011327:Printing / Q000379:methods*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012867:Skin; D012886:Skull / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D014463:Ultrasonography / Q000295:instrumentation*