Three-dimensional printed optical phantoms with customized absorption and scattering properties

Three-dimensional (3D) printing offers the promise of fabricating optical phantoms with arbitrary geometry, but commercially available thermoplastics provide only a small range of physiologically relevant absorption (mu(a)) and reduced scattering (mu(s)') values. Here we demonstrate customizable acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) filaments for dual extrusion 3D printing of tissue mimicking optical phantoms. mu(a) and mu(s)' values were adjusted by incorporating nigrosin and titanium dioxide (TiO2) in the filament extrusion process. A wide range of physiologically relevant optical properties was demonstrated with an average repeatability within 11.5% for mu(a) and 7.71% for mu(s)'. Additionally, a mouse-simulating phantom, which mimicked both the geometry and optical properties of a hairless mouse with an implanted xenograft tumor, was printed using dual extrusion methods. 3D printed tumor optical properties matched the live tumor with less than 3% error at a wavelength of 659 nm. 3D printing with user defined optical properties may provide a viable method for durable optically diffusive phantoms for instrument characterization and calibration. (C) 2015 Optical Society of America