Anthropomorphic test objects for CT scanners.

Numerous types of artifacts can result in clinical misinterpretations in computed tomography. The authors have evaluated phantom materials and techniques of construction which would produce objects similar enough to the human body to test the accuracy of CT in vivo. The object used for this purpose is a thoracic section with five soft-tissue materials, representing adipose tissue, muscle, heart, esophagus, and lung, and three bone materials representing cortical bone, average rib, and "inner" (trabecular) bone. The accuracy of CT numbers for studies of different organs was assessed and sources of error in five commercial scanners were identified.