Phantoms are physical devices used in the calibration and operation of medical ultrasound equipment. Currently available phantoms are produced by imbedding physical objects within various media. These phantoms are difficult to use and generate images that are limited in quality and use for the calibrate and operation of medical ultrasound systems. A phantom has been produced with thin film techniques that enables the precise placement of sub-resolvable 'digital scatterers' on acoustically transparent supporting medium to produce sophisticated test targets. These phantoms demonstrate imaging phenomena that are difficult or impractical to evaluate with conventional ultrasound phantoms. The use of half-tome masks and novel imaging techniques permit the creation of a statistical distribution of 'digital scatterers' enabling the production of images with definable gray scale characteristics. The new thin phantom technology enables new calibration and imaging capabilities providing a more accurate method of assuring accurate operation of medical ultrasound equipment. Research is required to integrate the elements of the new technology into an inexpensive, highly reliable simple to use ultrasound phantom target. These phantoms will enhance the accuracy of medical ultrasound imaging and provide both technical and quality assurance advantages to health care providers, medical centers and research scientist
Thesaurus Terms: diagnosis quality /standard, model design /development, phantom model, ultrasound scanning digital imaging bioimaging /biomedical imaging
