Fiberglass limb phantoms: Fabrication and use for quantitative scintigraphy Journal Article


Authors: Bading, J. R.; DiResta, G. R.; Corbally, M. T.; Conlon, K. C.
Article Title: Fiberglass limb phantoms: Fabrication and use for quantitative scintigraphy
Abstract: Quantitative radionuclide scintigraphy often requires empirical calibration factors derived from phantoms which simulate the radioactivity distribution, tissue geometry and tissue composition of the region of interest. This paper describes a method in which casts made with fiberglass tape are used to form realistic, water fillable phantoms of the limbs. Phantoms were constructed for the hind legs of the dog and rabbit, species frequently used in developing new radioscintigraphic techniques. Leg bones removed from euthanized animals were mounted anatomically within the casts. The dimensions of the phantom cavities were determined by x ray computed tomography. A procedure was developed for orienting the phantoms to match the hind leg geometry of a given experimental setup. Use of the phantoms for image activity calibration is illustrated for a geometric mean counting technique used to determine 99mTc activity densities in soft tissue regions of the dog thigh. Generalization of the calibration technique to planar and tomographic imaging is straightforward. In situ measurements of 99mTc activity density obtained by external counting were compared with in vitro radioassays of excised tissue. For 22 tissue samples obtained from four dogs, the in situ and in vitro data were linearly correlated (r=0.98, p≪0.001) over a 50 fold range of activity density. The mean and standard deviation of the observed percent discrepancies [% discrepancy=100(in situ-in vitro)/in vitro] were (7.8±2.9) and (13.7±2.1), respectively. A supplementary investigation indicated that the discrepancies resulted from a combination of various, individually small sources of error. In conclusion, durable phantoms with cavities closely simulating the irregular outer contours of the limbs can readily be fabricated with fiberglass tape in the laboratory setting. Use of such phantoms permits measurement of regional activities in the limbs with an average error of <15%. © 1986, American Institute of Physics for the National Institute of Standards and Technology. All rights reserved.
Keywords: nonhuman; methodology; technetium 99m; animal cell; animal; calibration; animal model; animalia; limb; dog; dogs; scintiscanning; radioisotope; phantom; models, anatomic; radionuclide imaging; scintigraphy; circulation; phantoms; mathematics; canis familiaris; rabbits; radioimmunoscintigraphy; fabrication; hindlimb; oryctolagus cuniculus; priority journal; support, u.s. gov't, p.h.s.; support, u.s. gov't, non-p.h.s.; limbs; biomedical radiography; fiberglass; technetium 99; glass fiber
Journal Title: Medical Physics
Volume: 15
Issue: 2
ISSN: 0094-2405
Publisher: American Association of Physicists in Medicine  
Date Published: 1988-03-01
Start Page: 215
End Page: 220
Language: English
DOI: 10.1118/1.596274
PUBMED: 3386592
PROVIDER: scopus
DOI/URL:
Notes: Letter -- Export Date: 6 August 2020 -- Source: Scopus
Altmetric
Citation Impact
BMJ Impact Analytics
MSK Authors
  1. Kevin C Conlon
    120 Conlon
  2. James Bading
    17 Bading