Data underlying the publication: Tissue-mimicking phantom materials with tunable optical properties suitable for assessment of diffuse reflectance spectroscopy during electrosurgery

Emerging intraoperative tumor margin assessment techniques require the development of more complex and reliable organ phantoms to assess the performance of the technique before its translation into the clinic. In this work, electrically conductive tissue-mimicking materials (TMMs) based on fat, water and agar/gelatin were produced with tunable optical properties. The composition of the phantoms allowed for the assessment of tumor margins using diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, as the fat/water ratio served as a discriminating factor between the healthy and malignant tissue. Moreover, the possibility of using polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) or transglutaminase in combination with fat, water and gelatin for developing TMMs was studied. The diffuse spectral response of the developed phantom materials had a good match with the spectral response of porcine muscle and adipose tissue, as well as <em style="color:rgb(34, 34, 34);">in vitro</em> human breast tissue. Using the developed recipe, anatomically relevant heterogeneous breast phantoms representing the optical properties of different layers of the human breast were fabricated using 3D-printed molds. These TMMs can be used for further development of phantoms applicable for simulating the realistic breast conserving surgery workflow in order to evaluate the intraoperative optical-based tumor margin assessment techniques during electrosurgery.

新兴的术中肿瘤切缘评估技术，亟需开发更为复杂且可靠的器官模体（organ phantoms），以便在该技术向临床转化前完成性能验证。本研究制备了以脂肪、水与琼脂/明胶为基质的导电型组织模拟材料（tissue-mimicking materials, TMMs），其光学特性具备可调性。该模体的组分可借助漫反射光谱法（diffuse reflectance spectroscopy）实现肿瘤切缘评估，其中脂肪与水的比例可作为区分健康组织与恶性组织的判别依据。此外，本研究还探索了将聚乙烯醇（polyvinyl alcohol, PVA）或转谷氨酰胺酶与脂肪、水及明胶复配，用于制备组织模拟材料的可行性。所制备模体材料的漫反射光谱响应，与猪肌肉、脂肪组织以及体外（in vitro）人乳腺组织的光谱响应具有良好的匹配度。基于所开发的制备配方，本研究利用3D打印模具（3D-printed molds）制备了具备解剖学相关性的异质性乳腺模体，可复现人类乳腺不同层级组织的光学特性。此类组织模拟材料可用于进一步开发适用于模拟真实保乳手术（breast conserving surgery）流程的模体，以评估电外科手术（electrosurgery）术中基于光学原理的肿瘤切缘评估技术。