Training phantom for ultrasound guided biopsy.

Commercial phantoms designed for radiologists to practise the skills needed to biopsy lesions under ultrasound guidance can be prohibitively costly, and do not have an indefinite shelf-life. A gelatin-based in-house model has been developed to recreate the conditions found in human tissues, using materials which are cheap and in everyday use. This phantom remains useful for several weeks, although tears produced by the biopsy needle take progressively longer to bond when the reconstructed gelatin is older than a month. However, new phantoms can be built quickly and easily using fresh gelatin while recycling other components.