Generic multi-purpose multi-modality phantom kit design

Phantoms are well-established tools for the characterization of imaging systems with regard to resolution, sensitivity, geometric distortions, or flow detection [1]. For the MPI community, the availability of standard phantoms is highly desirable to facilitate direct comparisons between the different MPI scanner designs that have emerged since the inception of this novel imaging modality [2-7]. To be stable over longer times, such phantoms require a sealed containment for liquid contrast agents to prevent leakage or solvent evaporation. As MPI typically requires a second modality for providing morphological reference, it is desirable to use phantoms that also exhibit a good contrast in other modalities such as MRI or μCT. As the spatial resolution of MPI scanners is typically anisotropic, it is desirable to allow different phantom alignments. In this study, we evaluate our new generic kit for building compact phantoms that meet the above requirements.