Penny L. Hubbard1, 2, Feng-lei Zhou1, Stephen J. Eichhorn3, Tim B. Dyrby4, Geoff J M Parker1, 2
1Imaging Sciences, Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, The University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom; 2The Biomedical Imaging Institute, The University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom; 3Physics and Astronomy, The University of Exeter, United Kingdom; 4Danish Research Centre for Magnetic Resonance, Copenhagen University Hospital Hvidovre, Hvidovre, Denmark
There is a need for a physical biomimetic phantom to act as a gold standard to allow a full characterisation and validation of the different diffusion acquisition methods, models, tracking algorithms, and microstructure measures. Here we introduce the use of co-electrospinning, a technique that allows the deposition of hollow, aligned, micron-sized fibres which mimic the microstructural and bulk characteristics of white matter tracts. We have demonstrated that the measured diffusivity is within the approximate range of biological tissues and that different diameter electrospun hollow fibres lead to different diffusivities and anisotropies, as well as evidence of fibre alignment.