Controlling the position-dependent contrast of 3D printed physical phantoms with a single material

Custom 3D printed physical phantoms are desired for testing the limits of medical imaging, and for providing patientspecific information. This work focuses on the development of low-cost, open source fused filament fabrication for printing of physical phantoms with the structure and contrast of human anatomy in computed tomography (CT) images. Specifically, this paper introduces the concept of using a porous 3D printed layer as a background into which additional material can be printed to control the position-dependent contrast. By using this method, eight levels of contrast were printed with a single material.