Evaluation of Physical Properties and Image of Polyvinyl Chloride as Breast Tissue Equivalence for Dual-Modality (Mammography and Ultrasound)

Tissue-mimicking phantom (TMP) is gradually becoming a fundamental element for quality assurance and control in ionizing and non-ionizing radiation imaging modalities as well as in the development of different techniques. This study aims to evaluate polyvinyl chloride (PVC) tissue mimicking material for dual-modality breast phantoms in mammography and ultrasound. Breast tissue equivalence was evaluated based on X-ray attenuation properties, speed of sound, attenuation, and acoustic impedance. There are six samples of PVC-plasticizer material with variations of PVC concentration and additives. The evaluation of X-ray attenuation was carried out using mammography from 23–35 kV, while the acoustic properties were assessed with mode A ultrasound and a transducer frequency of 5 MHz. A breast phantom was created from TMP material with tissue equivalence and was evaluated using mammography as well as ultrasound to analyze its image quality. The results showed that samples A, B, C, E, and F have the closest equivalent to the ACR breast phantom material with a different range of 0.01–1.39 in the 23–35 kV range. Based on the evaluation of the acoustic properties of ultrasound, A had high similarity to fat tissue with difference of 0.03 (dB cm− 1 MHz− 1) and 0.07 (106 kg m− 2 s− 1), while B was close to the glandular tissue with difference of 9.2 m s− 1. Multilayer breast phantom images' results showed gray levels in mammography and ultrasound modalities. This study succeeded in establishing TMP material for mammography and ultrasound. It can also be used for simple quality assurance and control programs.