Additive Manufacturing of Human Torso Phantom for Microwave Imaging

A new method for additive manufacturing of human torso phantom is being developed to support the study of pneumothorax using a microwave imaging system. Conductive PLA has been chosen as the material due to its high dielectric constant and lossy property. Based on the mixing rule, the major parts of human torso, including heart, lungs, rib cage, muscle layer and fat layer can be simulated by conductive PLA or mixing the saline water with conductive PLA having different infill percentage. The dielectric measurements of the material, the calculated representation of human torso parts and the simplified torso phantom model will be presented in the paper.