Effectiveness of Animal-Waste Scatterers in Room Temperature Vulcanizing Silicone on the Ultrasound Properties of Breast Tissue-Mimicking Phantoms

Abstract

This study aimed to determine the effectiveness of animal-waste-derived scatterers incorporated into room temperature vulcanizing (RTV) silicone on the ultrasound properties of breast tissue-mimicking phantoms. Specifically, the study evaluated the effects of shrimp shell powder, eggshell powder, and fishbone powder on echogenicity and speckle characteristics under standardized ultrasound imaging conditions. A quantitative true experimental post-test-only comparative research design was employed. Four phantom formulations were fabricated: RTV silicone with shrimp shell powder and eggshell powder (1:1), RTV silicone with shrimp shell powder, eggshell powder, and fishbone powder (1:1:1), RTV silicone without scatterers, and an agar-based reference phantom. Ultrasound images were acquired using a 10 MHz linear transducer and analyzed through region-of-interest (ROI) analysis using ImageJ software. Results demonstrated that the incorporation of animal-waste-derived scatterers significantly increased echogenicity and speckle compared to RTV silicone without scatterers. Among the fabricated formulations, the RTV silicone phantom containing shrimp shell powder and eggshell powder (1:1) produced ultrasound properties most closely resembling the agar-based reference phantom. Statistical analysis further revealed significant differences among the fabricated phantoms in terms of echogenicity and speckle. The findings suggest that calcium-rich animal-waste-derived materials possess potential as sustainable and cost-effective acoustic scatterers for ultrasound breast phantom fabrication and other tissue-mimicking phantom applications.