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History of Phantoms

History of phantomsMedical phantoms date back to the beginning of the 20th century. They are commonly defined as structures that contain tissue substitutes and are used to simulate radiation interactions in the human body. In the early 1900s, simple tanks of water and blocks of wax were used for various experiments and to this day these same materials are still used in certain applications.

In the mid-twentieth century more sophisticated tissue substitutes began to appear and today, phantoms are made using a wide variety of materials and processes. There are many different types of phantoms in use today. They can be used for a wide variety of purposes including to measure absorbed radiation dose in a specific geometry, to calibrate radiation detectors, to interpret or correct quantitative information from digital images, to measure image quality and to train radiologic technicians and interventional radiologists.

History of CIRS

History of CIRS

Computerized Imaging Reference Systems, Inc. (CIRS) was founded in 1982 by Dr. Elias Zerhouni, Moustafa Zerhouni and William Drury. Their mission was to create a reference phantom that would enable Computed Tomography Scanners to accurately differentiate benign from malignant lung tumors. Dr. Zerhouni’s patented “Lung Nodule Reference Simulator” minimized the need for costly and often unnecessary thoracotomies. Other products followed including a CT phantom for bone mineral density evaluation and phantoms for evaluating image quality of mammography systems. Since that time, CIRS has become recognized worldwide as a leader in the manufacture of tissue equivalent phantoms for densitometry, calibration, quality control, research and training in medical imaging and radiation therapy. CIRS is one of few companies that specialize exclusively in the design, development and manufacture of tissue equivalent phantoms for all imaging modalities and the only company offering “multi-modality phantoms” that are tissue equivalent under X-ray, Ultrasound and MRI combined.
Please note: CIRS is now part of Sun Nuclear, making us stronger together. The full suite of CIRS solutions will remain available for browsing on this site and are also available for order through your Sun Nuclear sales representative.