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.

GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT

KEYWORDS:

• Tissue phantom
• hyperthermia
• poly(vinyl alcohol)
• heat transfer
• biomimetic