Development of Improved Liver Steatosis Phantoms for Accurate Histopathologic Representation and Multimodal Imaging
Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Abstract: Despite advances in ultrasound-based noninvasive hepatic steatosis quantification, current methods remain insensitive to the microstructural phenotype of lipid accumulation, which influences outcomes in metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease. A methodology is introduced to generate tissue-mimicking phantom models that replicate the lobular liver histologic structure and pathologic patterns of steatosis. Phantoms consist of packed alginate capsules that mimic liver lobules and maintain continuous inter-capsule contact, embedded in agar. Lipid microparticles of controlled size and concentration are encapsulated within these capsules together with perfluorooctyl bromide microparticles serving as background scatterers. This architecture enables control of microscopic features (lipid vacuole size and density) and macroscopic organization (lobular-scale heterogeneity), both of which are expected to influence quantitative acoustic measurements, thereby more closely reproducing the histologic structure and acoustic behavior of healthy and diseased liver tissue. Phantoms with 0% and 20% fat (weight/volume) exhibit liver-like appearance on B-mode ultrasound imaging, with ultrasound-derived fat fraction and acoustic attenuation correlating with fat content. Chosen constituents enable compatibility with MRI and CT. This platform provides a structurally realistic model to refine and develop ultrasound liver fat quantification techniques and to support cross-vendor standardization, as well as cross-modality validation of ultrasound-based liver fat quantification using MRI and CT.
Source: ChemRxiv
Language: English
Subfield: Hepatology
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7212034248