Steven H. Baete1,2, Yves De Deene1,2
11Laboratory for Quantitative Nuclear Magnetic Resonance in Medicine and Biology, ECNURAD, Ghent University, Ghent, Oost-Vlaanderen, Belgium; 2Medisip-IBBT, Ghent University, Ghent, Oost-Vlaanderen, Belgium
Tumor hypoxia is well known to reduce cancer treatment efficacy. 19F MRI oximetry can be used to map oxygen concentrations in hypoxic tissue. However, validation of pO2-measurements in vivo is difficult. In this study, an oxygen consuming phantom simulating oxygen perfusion in tissue is presented. The phantom consists of a hemodialysis filter of which the outer compartment is filled with a gel containing viable yeast cells. pO2-images reveal oxygen consumption by the yeast after injection of a bolus of oxygen rich hexafluorobenzene in the fibers of the hemodialysis filter. The phantom can be used for validation of 19F MRI oximetry.