Non-animal ultrasound phantoms for device testing and training

Abstract

A phantom is a physical object to simplify device testing and clinical training. An industrial device is more reliable for device testing in quality control procedures, though it is expensive. When precision requirements are not so strict as it occurs in training, people prefer to use home-made phantoms, though many of these artisanal methods use animal products. The current paper illustrates a few alternative vegetal phantoms. Agar is a widely used material in laboratory investigations and can be used to contain ultrasound targets. Another quick and effective alternative is given by tofu. Target sizes and flow ultrasound measurements can be easily effected using a phantom and training can be planned and repeated as much as required. The current paper shows how low-cost animal phantoms can be perfectly replaced by low-cost vegetal ones for clinical and training purposes. Vegetal phantoms can be classified as possible realizations of the Replace, the 1st of the 3Rs pre-requisites for non-animal experiments.