Perfusion flow phantoms with many variably oriented micro channels

Ultrasound perfusion imaging with and without contrast agents continues to be an exciting pre-clinical and clinical problem as ultrasound systems and algorithms get more sensitive to slow blood flow. Unfortunately, there have been few phantoms to help develop these techniques. Some have used very small straight tubes, while others have adapted dialysis cartridges. Here, we form a gelatin phantom around a polymer resin template. Then, the resin structure is dissolved leaving behind a network of small randomly oriented channels. These small microchannels are connected to a large channel and then connected to a pump to perfuse blood-mimicking fluid through the phantom.