Design and Development of an Indigenous in-house Tissue-Equivalent Female Pelvic Phantom for Radiological Dosimetric Applications

Introduction: The present study is aimed to design and develop a tissue-equivalent pelvic phantom, mimicking the Indian female pelvic dimensions by means of locally available and cost-effective tissue substitutes having equivalent radiological properties. Materials and Methods: For the purpose of the study, the real female pelvic bones were embedded for preparation. Paraffin wax, Aloe-vera powder, purified borax, and sodium benzoate, were used to obtain the proper density and effective atomic number. A hollow three-dimensional outer surface and the internal organs moulds were fabricated using gypsona bandage. The internal organs moulds were filled with semi-solid paraffin wax mixture, stabilized, and then embedded with pelvic bones and internal organs at the right anatomical positions. The surface mould, along with the bones and internal organs, were stabilized in their position in the final form, and verified with computed tomography (CT). Results: The physical dimensions of the given female pelvic phantom were comparable with the mean dimensions of the Indian female pelvis. Furthermore this tissue-equivalent phantom was radiologically equivalent to the Indian human female pelvis in all respects. The CT numbers of the uterus, bladder, rectum, muscles, fats, bone, and cavities were 39.9, 30.5, 24.7, 34.6, -86.8, 578.6, and -220.9 HU, respectively. Furthermore, the relative electron densities of the muscle, fat and bones were 1.035, 0.913, and 0.779 in the phantom. Conclusion: The dimensions and physico-radiological properties of the tissue substitutes provided a good inhomogeneous female pelvic phantom differing in dimensions with imported pelvic phantoms. Therefore, this phantom can be used for radiological dosimetric applications.