Modeling the Skull-Brain Interface Using Sylgard 527 Phantoms

The goal of my research is to create a phantom capable of simulating brain tissue mechanical properties. This phantom will be tested with Magnetic Resonance Elastography (MRE) to retrieve data about the wave-motion taking place in the phantom. During the summer and past few months, I have created a homogenous Sylgard 527 phantom, a simple model, representing only the skull and brain tissue. In addition, I fabricated an interface phantom that simulates the skull, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and brain tissue. Upon testing the interface phantom for wave-motion, a large chemical shift was discovered. As a result, it was determined that water was not a suitable liquid medium when contrasted with cured Sylgard 527. Later, a removable lid was constructed and added to the interface phantom to allow the changing of interface materials. After evaluating various substitutes for a liquid medium, it was found that un-polymerized Sylgard Part A contrasted well with cured Sylgard 527.My current research focuses primarily on acquiring data regarding wave-motion and material properties of the homogenous and interface phantoms. The acquired data will allow for the direct comparison between the two phantoms, the phantoms and COMSOL simulations of expected results, as well as human MRE data.