Poly(vinyl alcohol) tissue phantoms as a robust in vitro model for heat transfer

Abstract

Glutaraldehyde-crosslinked poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) was used to create pourable, volume-stable hydrogel tissue phantoms that demonstrate several advantages over traditional poly(acrylamide) phantoms. The crosslinker concentration, curing time, and curing temperature were tuned to produce a tissue phantom whose volume varied by <0.2% over a 25-day span. The thermal conductivity of the PVA phantoms was tuned across the physiological range from 0.475 to 0.795 W m−1°C−1 by incorporating inert particle fillers. Experimental thermal diffusivity trials demonstrated the method’s utility for creating reliable, versatile tissue phantoms for the in vitro study of heat transfer in biologically relevant scenarios.