Multi-Modality Phantom Development

Multi-modality imaging has an increasing role in the diagnosis and treatment of a large number of diseases, particularly if both functional and anatomical information are acquired and accurately co-registered. Hence, there is a resulting need for multi-modality phantoms in order to validate image co-registration and calibrate the imaging systems. We present our PET-ultrasound phantom development, including PET and ultrasound images of a simple prostate phantom. We use agar and gelatin mixed with a radioactive solution. We also present our development of custom multi-modality phantoms that are compatible with PET, transrectal ultrasound (TRUS), MRI and CT imaging. We describe both our selection of tissue mimicking materials and phantom construction procedures. These custom PET-TRUS-CT-MRI prostate phantoms use agar-gelatin radioactive mixtures with additional contrast agents and preservatives. We show multi-modality images of these custom prostate phantoms, as well as discuss phantom construction alternatives. Although we are currently focused on prostate imaging, this phantom development is applicable to many multi-modality imaging applications.