Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36414928›Full record

ArticleJournal of ultrasound2023

Characterization of a fat tissue mimicking material for high intensity focused ultrasound applications.

Antria Filippou, Irene Louca, Christakis Damianou

Open access · greenAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of ultrasound, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed
1.0field-weighted citation impact, top 28% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed, 14 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Investigating the Metabolic Effects of Ultrasound-Induced Lipolysis.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025
    Review
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Antria FilippouDepartment of Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering and Informatics, Cyprus University of Technology, 30 Archbishop Kyprianou Street, 3036, Limassol, Cyprus.
Irene LoucaDepartment of Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering and Informatics, Cyprus University of Technology, 30 Archbishop Kyprianou Street, 3036, Limassol, Cyprus.
Christakis DamianouDepartment of Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering and Informatics, Cyprus University of Technology, 30 Archbishop Kyprianou Street, 3036, Limassol, Cyprus. christakis.damianou@cut.ac.cy.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0424-2851
Cyprus University of Technology · CY

Funding

Research and Innovation Foundation of Cyprus SOUNDPET(INTEGRATED/0918/0008)
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeTissue-mimicking materials (TMMs) have a prominent role in validating new high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) therapies. Agar-based TMMs are often developed mimicking the thermal properties of muscle tissue, while TMMs simulating fat tissue properties are rarely developed. Herein, twelve agar-based TMMs were iteratively developed with varied concentrations of agar, water, glycerol and propan-2-ol, and characterized for their suitability in emulating the thermal conductivity of human fat tissue.

methodsVaried agar concentrations (2%, 4%, 6%, 8%, 12%, 16% and 20% w/v) were utilized for developing seven water-based TMMs, while a 20% w/v agar concentration was utilized for developing two water/alcohol-based TMMs (50% v/v water and 50% v/v either glycerol or propan-2-ol) and three alcohol-based TMMs (varied glycerol and propan-2-ol concentrations). Thermal conductivity was measured for all TMMs, and the tissue mimicking material (TMM) exhibiting thermal conductivity closest to human fat was considered the optimum fat TMM and was further characterized using ultrasound (US) and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI).

resultsFor the seven water-based TMMs an inverse linear trend was observed between thermal conductivity and increased agar concentration, being between 0.524 and 0.445 W/m K. Alcohol addition decreased thermal conductivity of the two water/alcohol-based TMMs to about 0.33 W/m K, while in the alcohol-based TMMs, increased concentrations of propan-2-ol emerged as a modifier of thermal conductivity. The optimum fat TMM (33.3% v/v glycerol and 66.7% v/v propan-2-ol) exhibited a 0.231 W/m K thermal conductivity, and appeared hypoechoic on US images and with increased brightness on T1-Weighted MRI images.

conclusionThe optimum fat TMM emulates the thermal conductivity of human fat tissue and exhibits a fat-like appearance on US and MRI images. The TMM is cost-effective and has a long lifespan and possesses great potential for use in HIFU applications as a fat TMM.

Indexed as

GlycerolMagnetic Resonance ImagingAgarHumansPhantoms, ImagingUltrasonographyAgarGlycerolFatHIFUPhantomThermal conductivityTMM

Identifiers

PMID36414928
PMCPMC10247632
OpenAlexW4309644073

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.