title: Design and manufacturing of anthropomorphic thyroid-neck phantom for use in nuclear medicine centres in Chile.
abstract: Anthropomorphic phantoms are used in nuclear medicine for imaging quality control, calibration of gamma spectrometry system for the study of internal contamination with radionuclides and for internal dosimetric studies. These are constructed of materials that have radiation attenuation coefficients similar to those of the different organs and tissues of the human body. The material usually used for the manufacture of phantoms is polymethyl methacrylate. Other materials used for this purpose are polyethylene, polystyrene and epoxy resin. This project presents the design and manufacture of an anthropomorphic thyroid-neck phantom that includes the cervical spine, trachea and oesophagus, using a polyester resin (ρ = 1.1 g cm(-3)). Its linear and mass attenuation coefficients were experimentally determined and simulated by means of XCOM software, finding that this material reproduces the soft tissue ICRU-44 in a range of energies between 80 keV and 11 MeV, with less than a 5 % difference.
authors.affiliation: Departament of Physics, Universidad de La Frontera, Temuco, Chile.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hermosilla
authors.affiliation: Departament of Physics, Universidad de La Frontera, Temuco, Chile gloria.diaz@ufrontera.cl.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Díaz Londoño
authors.affiliation: Departament of Physics, Universidad de La Frontera, Temuco, Chile.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: García
authors.affiliation: Departament of Mechanical Engineering, Universidad de La Frontera, Temuco, Chile.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ruíz
authors.affiliation: Departament of Mechanical Engineering, Universidad de La Frontera, Temuco, Chile.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Andrade
authors.affiliation: Nuclear Medicine Service, National Cancer Institute, Santiago, Chile.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pérez
mesh_terms: D002677:Chile; D003198:Computer Simulation; D004867:Equipment Design; D006801:Humans; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional; D008953:Models, Anatomic; D009333:Neck / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D009683:Nuclear Medicine / Q000592:standards*; D016273:Occupational Exposure; D019047:Phantoms, Imaging; D011091:Polyesters; D019904:Polymethyl Methacrylate; D011786:Quality Control; D011829:Radiation Dosage; D011834:Radiation Monitoring; D011877:Radionuclide Imaging; D012117:Resins, Synthetic; D012984:Software; D013961:Thyroid Gland / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*
chemical_list: D011091:Polyesters; D012117:Resins, Synthetic; D019904:Polymethyl Methacrylate