An anatomically realistic and adaptable prostate phantom for laser thermotherapy treatment planning

PURPOSE: To construct a phantom for prostate cancer laser based thermotherapy treatment planning and simulation. METHODS: A realistic and adaptable prostate phantom was designed. It exhibits the following properties: valid and complete description of the prostate anatomy, material with similar optical properties of prostate tissues and compatibility with clinical imaging protocols mainly multiparametric magnetic resonance (MR) and transrectal ultrasound imaging (TRUS). RESULTS: Preliminary experiments with the phantom using an interstitial laser treatment protocol allowed obtaining results similar to those obtained on preclinical model. CONCLUSIONS: These results proved that this phantom could allow a real simulation of laser therapy procedure: target definition and fibers' placement optimization using MR imaging, treatment delivery, and finally treatment monitoring using TRUS imaging.