Image courtesy of CIRS Inc.
November 24, 2015 — The Dynamic Cardiac Phantom is a precision instrument which mimics the translation and rotational motion of the heart in a tissue-equivalent phantom. It is designed for comprehensive analysis of image quality, calcification detection and iodine contrast detection. The phantom represents an average human thorax in shape, proportion and composition. A Plastic Water DT rod containing a solid, anatomically-shaped heart model is inserted into the mediastinum of the phantom. The heart model contains cavities representing the coronary arteries, which can be replaced with targets of different calcification or iodine contrast levels depending on the required application. The body is connected to a motion actuator box that induces motion through linear translation and rotation of the Plastic Water DT rod. Motion of the rod itself is radiographically invisible due to its matching density with the surrounding material. Both the heart and the targets, given their density difference, can be resolved.
The phantom is controlled using CIRS Motion Control Software and includes a motion profile of an average beating heart and matching electrocardiogram (ECG) signal at 60 bpm. Through the intuitive user interface, users can adjust amplitudes and heart rate, or import patient-specific cardiac motion profiles.
For more information: www.cirsinc.com