Design and characterisation of a wall motion phantom

Arterial wall motion is an essential feature of a healthy cardiovascular system and it is known that wall motion is affected by age and disease. In recent years, methods have been developed for measurement of wall motion with the intention of providing diagnostically useful information. An issue with all of these techniques is the accuracy and variability of both wall motion and derived quantities such as elasticity, which requires the development of suitable test tools. In this paper, a vessel wall phantom is described for use in ultrasound studies of wall motion. The vessel was made from polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) subjected to a freeze-thaw process to form a cryogel (PVA-C). The elastic modulus, acoustic velocity and attenuation coefficient varied from 57 kPa, 1543 m s−1 and 0.18 dB cm−1 MHz−1 for one freeze-thaw cycle to 330 kPa, 1583 m s−1 and 0.42 dB cm−1 MHz−1 for 10 freeze-thaw cycles. Wall motion was effected by the use of pulsatile flow produced from a gear pump. The use of a downstream flow resistor removed gross distortions in the wall motion waveform, possibly by removal of reflected pressure waves. However, a low amplitude 20 Hz oscillation remained, which is unphysiologic and thought to be caused by the vibration of the distended PVA-C vessel. (E-mail: P.Hoskins@ed.ac.uk)