Artifacts Flashcards
definition of artifacts
artifacts are structures and features (echoes) that appear on the image but do not have a one-to-one correspondence to an anatomical structure.
they can be useful when assisting in diagnosing, may need to be ignored or eliminated.
What do we assume of the ultrasound machine?
1) sound travels in a straight line
2) sound travels directly to and from the reflector
3) the imaging plane is thin
4) sound always travels at 1.54 mm/µsec
5) reflections are produced by structures along the main axis of the sound beam
6) the intensity of an echo corresponds to a reflector’s scattering strength
definition of axial resolution
ability to distinguish two structures that are in close proximity to each other - front to back - anterior to posterior
(on top of each others on ultrasound image)
the backing layer does what?
stops the ringing in the probe - which allows it to have shorter pulse lengths - which increases the axial resolution
definition of lateral resolution
minimum distance between two side-by-side structures that can be separated and still produce two distinct echoes
What are some causes of artifacts?
- faulty equipment
- improper equipment operation
- improper settings of controls (ex. gain settings)
what is acoustic speckle? what does it look like? what causes it?
a one-to-one correspondence between image brightness and scanned objects does not exist.
a granular appearance of images and spectral display.
caused by: interference of echoes from the distribution of scatters in tissue
where does acoustic speckle occur?
near the face of the transducer
What is section thickness? and what else is it called?
- is the thickness of scanned tissue volume perpendicular to the scan plane
- slice thickness, out-of-plane focusing, elevational resolution or width focusing
What is temporal resolution?
the ability to precisely position a moving structure
what does low frame rates result in?
less accurate positioning of reflectors
reverberation artifact
- harmonics (double the frequency)
- appear as multiple, equally spaces reflections on the image, decreasing in intensity
comet-tail artifact
- form of reverberation artifact
- caused by metal object(s)
- surgical clips, prosthetic valves, bullet etc
- appears as multiple small bands
ring-down artifact
- type of reverberation
- produced by small gas bubbles
- appears as a long, single, strong echo behind the reflector
mirror-image artifact
-occurs when a structure is located in front of a highly reflective surface causing the anatomy to be reproducr=ed or duplicated on the other side of the interface
where does the duplicated or mirrored image appear at?
ALWAYS deeper than the true anatomical structure
examples of strong reflectors
diaphragm, pleura and bowel
multipath artifact
- path to and from a reflector that are not the same
- results in: incorrect axial location of an interface due to an increase in time and improper brightness
refraction artifact
- produces shadowing at the edge of structures that are curved
- heart, fetal head, or a cross-section of a vessel
- rectus abdominal muscles (duplicated structures, ghost image artifact)
- ex: two gestational sacs, two CAs, two AO valves
side lobes
- single crystal transducer
- energy off the main axis
- the reflection is at the correct depth - but LATERAL from true anatomy
grating lobes
- array transducers
- reflection at the correct depth - but LATERAL from true anatomy
- **corrected by sub-dicing and apodization - during manufacturing process