Computed Tomography (CT) circulation phantom to assess hyperdynamic contrast flow rates

A CT phantom that models the flow of ECMO against blood and iodinated contrast fluid to aid in the calibration of CT scans on ECMO patients.

Project Overview

ECMO (Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation) procedures have had a rise in demand in recent years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This device assists the heart and lungs by pumping blood outside of the body and oxygenating it before returning it to the bloodstream. A part of this process is the diagnosis, which uses CT (computed tomography) scans. However, the retrograde flow of the ECMO to the blood causes an image on the CT scan that looks like a blood clot, which causes less accurate CT images. Therefore, since there is no definitive method for testing or calibrating CT scans of ECMO patients, a circulation system with a phantom has been requested that can aid in the calibration of CT scans for patients on ECMO.