• Shariff F Tanious, Jamie Cline, Jennifer Cavin, Nathan Davidson, J Keegan Coleman, and Craig W Goodmurphy.
• Department of Pathology and Anatomy, Eastern Virginia Medical School, Norfolk, Virginia USA. taniousf@evms.edu.
• J Ultrasound Med. 2015 Jun 1;34(6):1011-8.

ObjectivesThe goal of this study was to investigate the durability and longevity of gelatin formulas for the production of staged ultrasound phantoms for education.MethodsGelatin phantoms were prepared from Knox gelatin (Kraft Foods, Northfield, IL) and a standard 10%-by-mass ordinance gelatin solution. Phantoms were durability tested by compressing to a 2-cm depth until cracking was visible. Additionally, 16 containers with varying combinations of phenol, container type, and storage location were tested for longevity against desiccation and molding. Once formulation was determined, 4 stages of phantoms from novice to clinically relevant were poured, and clinicians with ultrasound training ranked them on a 7-point Likert scale based on task difficulty, phantom suitability, and fidelity.ResultsOn durability testing, the ballistic gelatin outperformed the Knox gelatin by more than 200 compressions. On longevity testing, gelatin with a 0.5% phenol concentration stored with a lid and refrigeration lasted longest, whereas containers without a lid had desiccation within 1 month, and those without phenol became moldy within 6 weeks. Ballistic gelatin was more expensive when buying in small quantities but was 7.4% less expensive when buying in bulk. The staged phantoms were deemed suitable for training, but clinicians did not consistently rank the phantoms in the intended order of 1 to 4 (44%).ConclusionsRefrigerated and sealed ballistic gelatin with phenol was a cost-effective method for creating in-house staged ultrasound phantoms suitable for large-scale ultrasound educational training needs. Clinician ranking of phantoms may be influenced by current training methods that favor biological tissue scanning as easier.© 2015 by the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine.

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