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Agar ultrasound phantoms for low-cost training without refrigeration
INTRODUCTION: Ultrasound is a technique that can be utilised to augment procedures to increase their safety and efficacy, but requires that health professionals be trained to use this imaging modality before it can be implemented. With the extremely high cost of manufactured phantoms, homemade alter...
Autores principales: | , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
African Federation for Emergency Medicine
2016
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6233231/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30456059 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.afjem.2015.09.003 |
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author | Earle, Matthew Portu, Giuliano De DeVos, Elizabeth |
author_facet | Earle, Matthew Portu, Giuliano De DeVos, Elizabeth |
author_sort | Earle, Matthew |
collection | PubMed |
description | INTRODUCTION: Ultrasound is a technique that can be utilised to augment procedures to increase their safety and efficacy, but requires that health professionals be trained to use this imaging modality before it can be implemented. With the extremely high cost of manufactured phantoms, homemade alternatives are popular substitutes. Gelatine is commonly used as a matrix to suspend analogues and mimic tissue, but other substrates like ground meat can also be used. Both of these substrates require refrigeration and are subject to spoiling. Our research was designed to evaluate whether agar models would be superior to traditional Gelatine models in their sustainability and whether they would produce ultrasound images adequate for training. METHODS: Agar models of varying formulas (percent agar by weight with certain additives varied) were tested for acceptable fidelity to real tissue, ultrasound image quality, and durability compared to gelatine models and human tissue. RESULTS: A five percent by-mass agar model augmented with small amounts of suspended wheat flour presented as a model that could generate an ultrasound image that remarkably resembled that of real tissue. This agar model does not require refrigeration, is resistant to spoiling and desiccation, mimics tissue texture well, is durable enough to withstand high-volume training, and can be recycled to make new models. CONCLUSION: Agar phantoms are easy to make, do not require refrigeration, and have multiple distinct advantages over gelatine models for ultrasound training in austere conditions. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-6233231 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2016 |
publisher | African Federation for Emergency Medicine |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-62332312018-11-19 Agar ultrasound phantoms for low-cost training without refrigeration Earle, Matthew Portu, Giuliano De DeVos, Elizabeth Afr J Emerg Med Original Research Article INTRODUCTION: Ultrasound is a technique that can be utilised to augment procedures to increase their safety and efficacy, but requires that health professionals be trained to use this imaging modality before it can be implemented. With the extremely high cost of manufactured phantoms, homemade alternatives are popular substitutes. Gelatine is commonly used as a matrix to suspend analogues and mimic tissue, but other substrates like ground meat can also be used. Both of these substrates require refrigeration and are subject to spoiling. Our research was designed to evaluate whether agar models would be superior to traditional Gelatine models in their sustainability and whether they would produce ultrasound images adequate for training. METHODS: Agar models of varying formulas (percent agar by weight with certain additives varied) were tested for acceptable fidelity to real tissue, ultrasound image quality, and durability compared to gelatine models and human tissue. RESULTS: A five percent by-mass agar model augmented with small amounts of suspended wheat flour presented as a model that could generate an ultrasound image that remarkably resembled that of real tissue. This agar model does not require refrigeration, is resistant to spoiling and desiccation, mimics tissue texture well, is durable enough to withstand high-volume training, and can be recycled to make new models. CONCLUSION: Agar phantoms are easy to make, do not require refrigeration, and have multiple distinct advantages over gelatine models for ultrasound training in austere conditions. African Federation for Emergency Medicine 2016-03 2015-11-27 /pmc/articles/PMC6233231/ /pubmed/30456059 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.afjem.2015.09.003 Text en © 2015 African Federation for Emergency Medicine. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). |
spellingShingle | Original Research Article Earle, Matthew Portu, Giuliano De DeVos, Elizabeth Agar ultrasound phantoms for low-cost training without refrigeration |
title | Agar ultrasound phantoms for low-cost training without refrigeration |
title_full | Agar ultrasound phantoms for low-cost training without refrigeration |
title_fullStr | Agar ultrasound phantoms for low-cost training without refrigeration |
title_full_unstemmed | Agar ultrasound phantoms for low-cost training without refrigeration |
title_short | Agar ultrasound phantoms for low-cost training without refrigeration |
title_sort | agar ultrasound phantoms for low-cost training without refrigeration |
topic | Original Research Article |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6233231/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30456059 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.afjem.2015.09.003 |
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