Multi-modality gellan gum-based tissue-mimicking phantom with targeted mechanical, electrical, and thermal properties

This study develops a new class of gellan gum-based tissue-mimicking phantom material and a model to predict and control the elastic modulus, thermal conductivity, and electrical conductivity by adjusting the mass fractions of gellan gum, propylene glycol, and sodium chloride, respectively. One of the advantages of gellan gum is its gelling efficiency allowing highly regulable mechanical properties (elastic modulus, toughness, etc). An experiment was performed on 16 gellan gum-based tissue-mimicking phantoms and a regression model was fit to quantitatively predict three material properties (elastic modulus, thermal conductivity, and electrical conductivity) based on the phantom material's composition. Based on these material properties and the regression model developed, tissue-mimicking phantoms of porcine spinal cord and liver were formulated. These gellan gum tissue-mimicking phantoms have the mechanical, thermal, and electrical properties approximately equivalent to those of the spinal cord and the liver.

[1]  E. Morris,et al.  Gelation of gellan – A review , 2012 .

[2]  J. Ferry,et al.  Studies of the Cross-linking Process in Gelatin Gels. III. Dependence of Melting Point on Concentration and Molecular Weight , 1954 .

[3]  B G Steinbach,et al.  Use of a modified polysaccharide gel in developing a realistic breast phantom for MRI. , 1996, Magnetic resonance imaging.

[4]  Robert E Lenkinski,et al.  Radiofrequency ablation: importance of background tissue electrical conductivity--an agar phantom and computer modeling study. , 2005, Radiology.

[5]  E. Madsen,et al.  Tissue-mimicking phantom materials for narrowband and ultrawideband microwave applications , 2005, Physics in medicine and biology.

[6]  Jan-Chan Huang,et al.  Carbon black filled conducting polymers and polymer blends , 2002 .

[7]  E L Madsen,et al.  Oil-in-gelatin dispersions for use as ultrasonically tissue-mimicking materials. , 1982, Ultrasound in medicine & biology.

[8]  L E Howle,et al.  Experimental evaluation of the thermal properties of two tissue equivalent phantom materials. , 1999, International journal of hyperthermia : the official journal of European Society for Hyperthermic Oncology, North American Hyperthermia Group.

[9]  A. Clark,et al.  Large deformation and ultimate properties of biopolymer gels: 1. Single biopolymer component systems , 1985 .

[10]  H. F. Bowman,et al.  Theory, measurement, and application of thermal properties of biomaterials. , 1975, Annual review of biophysics and bioengineering.

[11]  P R Stauffer,et al.  Phantom and animal tissues for modelling the electrical properties of human liver , 2003, International journal of hyperthermia : the official journal of European Society for Hyperthermic Oncology, North American Hyperthermia Group.

[12]  J. Vera,et al.  Liquid-Liquid Equilibrium of Aqueous Mixtures of Poly(ethylene glycol) with Na2SO4 or NaCl , 1994 .

[13]  M. E. Masterson,et al.  Epoxy-resin-based tissue substitutes. , 1977, Medical physics.

[14]  N. L. Hoekstra,et al.  Large deformation rheology of gelatin gels , 1996 .

[15]  Susumu Kanazawa,et al.  Production of a human-tissue-equivalent MRI phantom: optimization of material heating. , 2008, Magnetic resonance in medical sciences : MRMS : an official journal of Japan Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.

[16]  R. King,et al.  Development of a HIFU Phantom , 2007 .

[17]  Min Zhang,et al.  Experimental Determination of Thermal Conductivity of Water−Agar Gel at Different Concentrations and Temperatures , 2011 .

[18]  M. A. Tung,et al.  Failure Testing of Gellan Gels , 1992 .

[19]  M. A. Tung,et al.  Compression strength and deformation of gellan gels formed with mono- and divalent cations , 1996 .

[20]  M. Gilchrist,et al.  Mechanical characterization of brain tissue in compression at dynamic strain rates. , 2012, Journal of the mechanical behavior of biomedical materials.

[21]  A. Clark,et al.  The concentration dependence of biopolymer gel modulus , 1985 .

[22]  O. Johansen.  Thermal Conductivity of Soils , 1977 .

[23]  Direct measurement of ultrasonic dispersion using a broadband transmission technique , 1999 .

[24]  C. Basdogan,et al.  A robotic indenter for minimally invasive characterization of soft tissues , 2005 .

[25]  M. Cavagnaro,et al.  Design and realisation of tissue-equivalent dielectric simulators for dosimetric studies on microwave antennas for interstitial ablation. , 2012, Physica medica : PM : an international journal devoted to the applications of physics to medicine and biology : official journal of the Italian Association of Biomedical Physics.

[26]  M. Zellweger,et al.  An optical phantom with tissue-like properties in the visible for use in PDT and fluorescence spectroscopy. , 1997, Physics in medicine and biology.

[27]  Brian J. Briscoe,et al.  The effect of indenter geometry on the elastic response to indentation , 1994 .

[28]  Christine E. Schmidt,et al.  Conducting polymers in biomedical engineering , 2007 .

[29]  A. Veis.  The Macromolecular Chemistry of Gelatin , 1964 .

[30]  Stuchly,et al.  DIELECTRIC PROPERTIES OF BIOLOGICAL SUBSTANCES–TABULATED , 1980 .

[31]  Rekha S. Singhal,et al.  Gellan Gum: Fermentative Production, Downstream Processing and Applications , 2007 .

[32]  Martin G. Scanlon,et al.  ANALYSIS OF THE ELASTIC MODULUS OF AGAR GEL BY INDENTATION , 1999 .

[33]  S. Davidson,et al.  Measurement of the thermal conductivity of polyacrylamide tissue-equivalent material , 2003, International journal of hyperthermia : the official journal of European Society for Hyperthermic Oncology, North American Hyperthermia Group.

[34]  C Gabriel,et al.  The dielectric properties of biological tissues: I. Literature survey. , 1996, Physics in medicine and biology.

[35]  C Gabriel,et al.  Tissue equivalent material for hand phantoms , 2007, Physics in medicine and biology.

[36]  F. W. Schremp,et al.  Studies of the Cross-Linking Process in Gelatin Gels. II. Static Rigidity and Stress Relaxation. , 1951 .

[37]  Dieter Haemmerich,et al.  In vivo electrical conductivity of hepatic tumours. , 2003, Physiological measurement.

[38]  Jonathan W. Valvano,et al.  Thermal conductivity and diffusivity of biomaterials measured with self-heated thermistors , 1985 .

[39]  A. Clark,et al.  Structural and mechanical properties of biopolymer gels , 1987 .

[40]  E. Kimmel,et al.  Ultrasound-induced cavitation damage to external epithelia of fish skin. , 1999, Ultrasound in medicine & biology.

[41]  A. Shih,et al.  Bioimpedance of soft tissue under compression , 2012, Physiological measurement.

[42]  Martin E. Weber,et al.  Liquid-liquid equilibrium of aqueous mixtures of poly(propylene glycol) with sodium chloride , 1994 .

[43]  Peter Fischer,et al.  The self-assembly, aggregation and phase transitions of food protein systems in one, two and three dimensions , 2013, Reports on progress in physics. Physical Society.

[44]  S. Kasapis,et al.  The effect of added sucrose and corn syrup on the physical properties of gellan—gelatin mixed gels , 1995 .

[45]  L. Geddes,et al.  Cell constant of the tetrapolar conductivity cell , 1990, Medical and Biological Engineering and Computing.

[46]  I. Vitkin,et al.  Optical phantom materials for near infrared laser photocoagulation studies , 1999, Lasers in surgery and medicine.

[47]  Mark Dewhirst,et al.  A heterogeneous human tissue mimicking phantom for RF heating and MRI thermal monitoring verification , 2012, Physics in medicine and biology.

[48]  Roberto Olmi,et al.  The Polyacrylamide as a Phantom Material for Electromagnetic Hyperthermia Studies , 1984, IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering.

[49]  M. Komaitis,et al.  Compression of gellan gels. Part I: effect of salts , 2010 .

[50]  Kenneth R. Foster,et al.  Thermal Properties of Tissue Equivalent Phantom Materials , 1984, IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering.

[51]  A. Clark,et al.  Structural and mechanical properties of agar/gelatin co-gels. Small-deformation studies , 1983 .

[52]  Alicia Noemi Califano,et al.  Rheological analysis of emulsion-filled gels based on high acyl gellan gum , 2013 .

[53]  J A Pearce,et al.  A self-heated thermistor technique to measure effective thermal properties from the tissue surface. , 1987, Journal of biomechanical engineering.

[54]  A. Guy,et al.  Formulas for preparing phantom muscle tissue at various radiofrequencies. , 1984, Bioelectromagnetics.

[55]  A. W. Guy,et al.  Analyses of Electromagnetic Fields Induced in Biological Tissues by Thermographic Studies on Equivalent Phantom Models , 1971 .

[56]  Rajiv Chopra,et al.  Multi-modality tissue-mimicking phantom for thermal therapy. , 2004, Physics in medicine and biology.

[57]  M. A. Tung,et al.  Polymer and Ion Concentration Effects on Gellan Gel Strength and Strain , 1994 .

[58]  Adam D. Maxwell,et al.  A tissue phantom for visualization and measurement of ultrasound-induced cavitation damage. , 2010, Ultrasound in medicine & biology.

[59]  James J. Ackmann,et al.  Complex bioelectric impedance measurement system for the frequency range from 5 Hz to 1 MHz , 1993, Annals of Biomedical Engineering.