Dynamic contrast-enhanced and phase contrast MRI of a novel 3D printed cardiac phantom mimicking transmural myocardial perfusion gradients

In recognition of the lack of a physical standard for the assessment and validation of myocardial perfusion imaging methodologies, a phantom simulating first-pass perfusion has recently been developed. This study builds on this work by introducing a novel 3D printed myocardial compartment with a radial variation in flow that mimics physiological transmural perfusion gradients. Velocity and perfusion rate estimates using phase contrast and dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI of the myocardium, respectively, were found to be repeatable. The myocardium shows potential in multi-modality evaluation and validation of perfusion pulse sequences and quantification algorithms before their introduction into routine clinical use.