Universal Phantom

MRI diffusion phantom to assess and quantify both anisotropic and isotropic diffusion characteristics.

Finally, a quality, ground-truth diffusion phantom that can be used to assess and quantify both anisotropic and isotropic diffusion characteristics within a single device. The hollow Taxon™ fibers contained within the phantom are designed to precisely match the dimensional and diffusion characteristics of human axons. The phantom is compatible with all standard OEM 20/32/64 channel head coils and can be used to quantitatively assess and compare scanner performance between data collection sites. Gain confidence in the accuracy of study protocols with regularly repeated quality assessment scans using the Phantom Metrics family of products.

Features:

• Quantify anisotropic diffusion, isotropic diffusion, and spatial resolution characteristics with a single phantom
• Assess and compare scanner performance within and between sites
• Evaluate T1, T2, Proton Density, ADC, FA, MD, RD, AD, multi-compartment modeling, and other diffusion metrics
• Isotropic Diffusion Disk with 47 standardized reference solutions contained in polypropylene cubes
• Anisotropic Diffusion Disk with 22 fixtures of Square Taxon fibers in multiple tract dimensions, densities, and crossings using fibers with .9 micron inside diameter holes
• Spatial Homogeneity Disk with 65 fixtures of Round Taxon fiber tracts in X, Y, and Z
• Single form factor for all standard OEM 20/32/64 channel head coils
• MR readable phantom serial number and orientation fiducials
• Rolling, water-tight, hard shell storage and shipping case
• User-accessible fill port with small refill kit
• Head coil-specific insert for fast, accurate alignment and reliable positioning

Protected under one or more of the following U.S. Patents: 11,959,990, 11,624,798, 11,366,192, 9,603,546, and 10,078,124.

Customizations

• Customized, full-size phantom configurations
  • Geometric disk + any combination of 3 disks from Universal Phantom
• Customized, tube phantom configurations
  • Many combinations available depending on desired cubes/fixtures
  • 1-4 anisotropic fixtures or isotropic fluid cubes

Universal Phantom Components

• Anisotropic Diffusion Disk
  • 16 Density Fixtures containing a range of 4 diffusion tract dimensions from 6 mm to 1 mm with tract densities from 100% to 16.7%
  • 3 Crossing Fixtures containing diffusion tract crossings of 30°, 45°, 90° with 100% density in both crossing tracts
  • 3 Crossing Fixtures of 45° with densities of 100% crossed with densities of 50%, 33.3%, and 16.7%
• Anisotropic Spatial Homogeneity Disk
  • 65 4×4 mm fixtures with with Round Taxon fibers forming 4 contiguous tracts of 22 fixtures in X – Y and 21 tracts in Z
• Isotropic Diffusion Disk
  • 12 T1 Fluids (NiCl2) – ~21 ms – ~2000 ms*
  • 12 T2 Fluids (MnCl2 ) – ~5 ms – ~577 ms*
  • 12 Proton Density Fluids (D2O) ~2.5% – ~100% (% Molarity H2O)
  • 5 ADC Fluids (PVP) – aqueous solutions of PVP with concentrations of 10% – 50% in 10% increments, and one pure water reference
  • 5 CuSO4 Fiducials

*values for 3T at 20°C

Accessories and Services

• Internal MR readable thermometer
• Phantom refill kit
• Additional head coil-specific inserts
• Pressure compensation disk
• Recalibration service – recommended
  annually

Publications

Judd W, Kim SE, Dzikiy J, Parker DL, Odéen H. Flexible, high spatial and temporal resolution absolute thermometry of MRI phantoms using ethylene glycol. Magn Reson Med. 2025 Aug;94(2):470-479. doi: 10.1002/mrm.30487. Epub 2025 Mar 30. PMID: 40159717; PMCID: PMC12137765.

Liu Q, Gagoski B, Shaik IA, Westin CF, Wilde EA, Schneider W, Bilgic B, Grissom WA, Nielsen JF, Zaitsev M, Rathi Y, Ning L. Time-division multiplexing (TDM) sequence removes bias in T2 estimation and relaxation-diffusion measurements. Magn Reson Med. 2024 Dec;92(6):2506-2519. doi: 10.1002/mrm.30246. Epub 2024 Aug 13. PMID: 39136245; PMCID: PMC11436305.

Filipiak P, Shepherd TM, Basler L, Zuccolotto A, Placantonakis DG, Schneider W, Boada FE, Baete SH. Diffusion phantom study of fiber crossings at varied angles reconstructed with ODF-Fingerprinting. Comput Diffus MRI. 2023;14328:23-34. doi: 10.1007/978-3-031-47292-3_3. Epub 2024 Feb 7. PMID: 39957914; PMCID: PMC11826967.

Filipiak P, Shepherd T, Basler L, Zuccolotto A, Placantonakis DG, Schneider W, Boada FE, Baete SH. Stepwise Stochastic Dictionary Adaptation Improves Microstructure Reconstruction with Orientation Distribution Function Fingerprinting. Comput Diffus MRI. 2022 Nov;13722:89-100. doi: 10.1007/978-3-031-21206-2_8. Epub 2022 Dec 1. PMID: 36695675; PMCID: PMC9870046.

Pathak, S, Schneider, W, Wu,Y, Wilde, E, Zuccolotto, A, Huang, S , FanQ, Witzel T, Wald W, Fieremans, E, Komlosh, ME, Benjamini, D, Avram AV, and Basser PJ Diffusion ground truth quantification of axon scale phantom: Limits of diffusion MRI on 7T, 3T and Connectome 1.0. IMSRM 2021 Power Pitch 7433

Wilde EA, Provenzale JM, Taylor BA, Boss M, Zuccolotto A, Hachey R, Pathak S, Tate DF, Abildskov TJ, Schneider W. Assessment of quantitative magnetic resonance imaging metrics in the brain through the use of a novel phantom. Brain Inj. 2018;32(10):1266-1276. doi: 10.1080/02699052.2018.1494855. PMID: 30169993.

Provenzale JM, Taylor BA, Wilde EA, Boss M, Schneider W. Analysis of variability of fractional anisotropy values at 3T using a novel diffusion tensor imaging phantom. Neuroradiol J. 2018 Dec;31(6):581-586. doi: 10.1177/1971400918789383. Epub 2018 Jul 24. PMID: 30037296; PMCID: PMC6243462.

Fan, Q., Nummenmaa, A., Wichtmann, B., Witzel, T., Mekkaoui, C., Schneider, W., Wald, L.L. and Huang, S.Y., 2018. A comprehensive diffusion MRI dataset acquired on the MGH Connectome scanner in a biomimetic brain phantom. Data in brief, 18, pp.334-339.

Wilde, E. A., Provenzale, J. M., Taylor, B. A., Boss, M., Zuccolotto, A., Hachey, R., & Schneider, W. (2018). Assessment of quantitative magnetic resonance imaging metrics in the brain through the use of a novel phantom. Brain injury, 32(10), 1265-1275.

Guise, C., Fernandes, M. M., No?brega, J. M., Pathak, S., Schneider, W., & Fangueiro, R. (2016).Hollow polypropylene yarns as a biomimetic brain phantom for the validation of High Definition Fiber Tractography imaging. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 8(44), 29960 29967.

Guise, C., Fangueiro, R., Nóbrega, J. M., & Schneider, W. (2015). Study on fibrous materials for brain phantoms. Innovation in Medicine and Healthcare 2014, 207, 163.

Guise, C., Fangueiro, R., Nóbrega, J.M. and Schneider, W., 2014. Study on fibrous materials for brain phantoms. In Innovation in Medicine and Healthcare 2014 (pp. 163-172). IOS Press.