An anatomically-scaled, tissue-mimicking phantom of the rectum, prostate, bladder, and urethra will be designed as a training tool for medical residents to learn and practice High Dose Rate (HDR) Prostate Brachytherapy.

Project Overview

Prostate brachytherapy is a procedure that involves radioactive treatment of cancer within the prostate gland. Two different types of procedures are possible for this treatment, one regarding the placement of radioactive seeds for a prolonged period of time (Low Dose Rate or LDR), and the other through a short exposure to high radiation via inserted needles (High Dose Rate or HDR). Currently, due to limited training equipment, most medical residents learn and practice the procedure on patients. In order to increase repetitions and eliminate failure rates without negatively impacting a patient, the team is tasked with designing a simulation phantom for high dose rate prostate brachytherapy. High dose rate is the primary focus as it will allow residents to gain experience in the placement of needles in the perineum while avoiding the need to remove radioactive seeds after every repetition. The phantom must include a simulated rectum, prostate, bladder, and urethra while also being portable and stable on a flat surface. The device must also permit prostate imaging via an ultrasound probe placed into the rectum, as this will emulate the procedure on patients. Therefore, research must focus around possible materials which mimic the mechanical and acoustical properties of normal prostate tissue. For healthy prostate tissue, the Young’s Modulus ranges from 15.0-20.0 kPa, the Speed of Sound through the tissue ranges from 1540-1560 m/s, and the Attenuation Coefficient ranges from 0.5-0.8 dB/cmMHz [1]. The selected Tissue Mimicking Material (TMM) must fall within these ranges to accurately reflect the prostate’s mechanical and acoustical properties. This material must also provide contrast from the other standard silicone-simulated organs, all of which are suspended in ballistic-gel, which is a water and gelatin powder mixture that reflects the density and viscosity of human tissue. The goal of the group is to utilize a material which simulates the standard Young’s Modulus, the Speed of Sound through tissue, and the Acoustic Attenuation Coefficient of normal prostate tissue in order to design an optimal prostate brachytherapy phantom.

[1] R. Cao, Z. Huang, T. Varghese and G. Nabi, "Tissue mimicking materials for the detection of prostate cancer using shear wave elastography: A validation study", Medical Physics, vol. 40, no. 2, p. 022903, 2013.

Team Picture

Contact Information

Team Members

• Zihan Wang - Team Leader
• Yicheng Ma - Communicator
• Francisco O'Neill Rodriguez - Co-BSAC
• Josh Andreatta - Co-BSAC
• Jack Maher - BWIG
• Hannah Nyman - BPAG
• Temisan Blagogee

Advisor and Client

• Prof. Randolph Ashton - Advisor
• John Floberg - Client
• Greg Cooley - Alternate Contact