Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42571506›Full record

ReviewJournal of biomedical optics2026

Phantoms for use in optical coherence elastography.

Farzan Navaeipour, Jiayue Li, Shima Zamani, Lena Kranold, Rowan W Sanderson, Brendan F Kennedy

Abstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in Journal of biomedical optics, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
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

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

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

6 authors.

Farzan NavaeipourBRITElab, Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research, QEII Medical Centre Nedlands and Centre for Medical Research, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7400-662X
Jiayue LiBRITElab, Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research, QEII Medical Centre Nedlands and Centre for Medical Research, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1448-7289
Shima ZamaniBRITElab, Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research, QEII Medical Centre Nedlands and Centre for Medical Research, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia.
Lena KranoldBRITElab, Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research, QEII Medical Centre Nedlands and Centre for Medical Research, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia.
Rowan W SandersonBRITElab, Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research, QEII Medical Centre Nedlands and Centre for Medical Research, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8877-7847
Brendan F KennedyBRITElab, Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research, QEII Medical Centre Nedlands and Centre for Medical Research, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4782-0498

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Significance: Optical coherence elastography (OCE) is an emerging biomedical imaging technique for mapping the micro-scale mechanical properties of tissue. Phantoms are vital for assessing OCE imaging performance in a controlled and systematic manner. Although the use of phantoms in OCE has been widely demonstrated, there is no consensus on suitable phantom materials or fabrication methods, limiting reproducibility and inter-laboratory comparison of OCE techniques. Aim: Our aim is to establish a unified framework for selecting, fabricating, and characterizing OCE phantoms by systematically evaluating the mechanical, optical, and structural properties of silicone, agar, and gelatin, the three most widely used OCE phantom materials. Approach: We conducted a literature review of phantom fabrication methods reported in OCE studies published between 1998 and 2025, comprising 223 papers, and identified silicone, agar, and gelatin as the most widely used OCE phantom materials. We experimentally characterized the elasticity, viscoelasticity, and attenuation coefficient of homogeneous phantoms fabricated from each material and investigated the effects of shelf life and optical scatterer concentration on mechanical properties. We further fabricated inclusion phantoms and tissue-mimicking surface roughness phantoms derived from optical coherence tomography (OCT) scans of human breast tissue using all three materials and evaluated their imaging performance using a compression OCE technique, quantitative micro-elastography (QME). Results: The elastic (tangent) modulus ranged from 7.2 to 175.9 kPa for silicone, 9.7 to 229.1 kPa for agar, and 3.5 to 29.4 kPa for gelatin, while OCT attenuation coefficients ranged from 0.2 to Conclusions: This study provides a framework to guide phantom material selection, fabrication, and characterization in OCE, identifying silicone as best suited for durable, predominantly elastic phantoms; agar for viscoelastic phantoms across a broad elasticity range; and gelatin for soft, highly viscoelastic phantoms. We believe that the results presented here will support standardization in OCE phantom development and will enable more detailed analysis, validation, and comparison of OCE techniques.

Indexed as

Elasticity Imaging TechniquesPhantoms, ImagingTomography, Optical CoherenceAgarBreastElasticityGelatinHumansReproducibility of ResultsSiliconesViscosityAgarGelatinSiliconesagargelatinoptical attenuation.optical coherence elastographyoptical coherence tomographyphantomssiliconesurface roughnessviscoelasticity

Identifiers

PMID42571506
PMCPMC13452405

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
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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 Socratic graph.