An Affordable and Easily Recreated Ultrasound Phantom for DVT

Evaluating a patient for a deep vein thrombosis (DVT) using ultrasound is a common procedure in the emergency department. Teaching a clinician to identify a DVT on ultrasound is often done on a phantom, which is a synthetic model intended to simulate a clinical condition. Traditional commercial ultrasound phantoms modeling a DVT exist, but can be prohibitively expensive. We have created a DVT phantom by embedding a water-filled balloon containing a smaller balloon filled with water and an acrylic polymer in a gelatin-psyllium hydrophilic mucilloid fiber mixture. This phantom is durable, easily created, and affordable. It provides clinicians the ability to learn to identify a DVT on a phantom prior to performing the procedure on a patient.