Measurement of acoustic and mechanical properties of polyvinyl alcohol material with various densities as a tissue-mimicking material for ultrasound phantom.

In the medical field, the ultrasound phantoms had been used to perform device performance testing, ultrasound-guided biopsy training, the development and validation of ultrasound imaging techniques. Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) materials have been widely used for tissue equivalent phantom materials. However, the acoustic and mechanical properties have not been comprehensively investigated. Therefore, this study aims to measure and assess the acoustic and mechanical properties of PVA material with varying densities for the tissue-mimicking material of an ultrasound phantom. The research method started with making PVA samples with densities of 7, 10, and 15% of the total weight. Each variation of PVA density was dissolved in distilled water and stirred at 300 rpm, a temperature of 175°C. The solution was stirred until the PVA was completely dissolved in distilled water and the solution was poured into a polylactic acid mold with dimensions of 10 × 10 cm2, 1 cm thickness. PVA samples were subjected to one freeze-thaw cycle. The samples were tested for acoustic properties at frequency 1 – 5 MHz. Elasticity properties were tested using a dynamic mechanical analyzer, and the density of each sample was calculated using the ratio of sample mass to volume. The results showed that the acoustic properties of the sound speed, acoustic attenuation, and impedance of the PVA samples were in the range of 1598.14 ± 8.25 – 1893.27 ± 6.57 ms−1 at a frequency of 1 MHz, 0.61 ± 0.076 – 0.67 ± 0.195 dB cm−1 MHz−1, and 1.67 – 2.23 (106 kg m−2 s−1). While the elasticity and density properties of PVA samples had a range of 7.87 ± 0.084 – 81.56 ± 1.094 kPa, 1.046 – 1.176 g cm−3. In conclusion, the PVA samples have excellent soft tissue equivalence based on acoustic and mechanical properties. The material composition of this finding can be used as a reference for the fabrication of ultrasound phantoms for testing device performance or education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]