Digital Image Artifacts Flashcards
Define artifacts.
- Unintended optical density on an image
- False visual feature that stimulate anatomy or obscure tissues.
- Excludes scatter and fog
- Degrades image (may necessitate repeat exam)
What are some category of artifacts?
Hardware, software, object
What are hardware artifacts?
Image receptor artifacts (imaging plate artifacts), plate reader artifacts, printer artifacts
What software artifacts?
Image processing artifacts, histogram errors, rescaling, image compression
What are object artifacts?
Collimating, back scatter, patient positioning
What happens when the cassette is exposed with the back of a cassette toward the source?
Result: image with a white grid-type pattern and white areas that correspond hinges.
What kind of digital artifacts can happen with improper collimating (too much or too little)?
- Exposure field recognition errors
- Histogram analysis errors (software cannot find VOI; result: rescaling error- poor density, contrast on image).
What happens with no collimation?
- Too much exposure in histogram
- Exposure indicator number reflects plate overexposure (but maybe it wasn’t overexposed)
What are exposure field recognition errors?
Preprocessing software cannot fund exposure field edge.
What is the result of exposure field recognition errors?
Scatter, off focus, unattenuated radiation included in histogram.
What does exposure field recognition errors lead to?
- light dark, or low contrast images.
- Incorrect exposure indicator number
- histogram and rescaling errors (if software cannot find borders, all image data is included. Histogram applied to all image data, not just VOI.)
What happens when there are rescaling errors?
- When rescaled, software cannot properly adjust image to reference histogram.
- LUT cannot properly apply contrast.
- Image may look dark or light, have little contrast latitude (cannot window/level image.)
How to collimate?
- Collimation borders parallel to IR border (4 distinct margins are best)
- Even number of collimated fields
- One image per plate
- Center part to IR
What are IR artifacts?
- Dust, dirt, scratches (from imaging plate handling, plate in and out of cassette of CR reader).
- Dirt on optics (lenses, mirrors, light guide) - appear as horizontal white lines (along path of plate travel), service engineers must clean.
What are more artifacts that can be found?
- Stains from cleaning chemical (leakage into cassette, wrong chemical used on IP - anhydrous alcohol only)
- Pixel malfunctions (sampling errors, bad pixels on flat panel detectors).
- Ghost images (incomplete erasure, incorrect erasure settings)
What are plate reader artifacts?
- Extraneous lines/ patterns on image
- Due to plate reader electronics malfunctioning
- Appears on multiple images- not same plate
What are printer artifacts?
- Dirt in laser printer causes fine white lines
- Service engineers must clean, calibrate.
- Easy to differentiate from plate reading artifacts.
What are software artifacts?
- Dead pixels (software interpolates data to fill in - correction algorithms that assign values to dead pixels upon values of adjacent pixels).
- flat field correction (software corrects irregular patterns in image, uniform response to uniform x-ray beam).
- Incorrect image compression (compresses for transmission, some post processing application need raw data).
Is quantum mottle considered a software artifact?
Yes
What causes quantum mottle?
Not enough radiation exposure to the detector.
How do we fix quantum mottle?
Usually more mAs.
What are grid artifacts?
When grid lines are parallel to scanning laser in CR reader, a moire effect can occur.
What eliminates grid artifacts?
Oscillating grids
How many lines should high frequency grids have?
103 lines/in
What is ideal grid position?
Grid lines are perpendicular to translation of laser.
What are object artifacts?
- Exam menu selection (wrong menu = wrong histogram).
- Collimation
What are operator errors?
- Backward cassette (grid pattern of cassette support seen over image).
- No collimation (unattended radiation strikes IR, alters histogram)
- Wrong size IR ( image appears small).
What are operator errors?
- Insufficient collimation results in unattenuated radiation striking the image plate. The resulting histogram is changed so that it is outside the normal exposure indicator range for the body part selected.
- Contrast reduction due to overexposure.
What are some histogram errors not caused by a radiographer?
- Unexpected are of increased/decreased attenuation in body.
- Artificial joint, Barium in bowel, uneven lead shield border.
- Area of low lucency included in histogram. Oops! Software thinks image underexposed.
- Compensates with rescaling/LUT application: image looks dark.
What is partitioning?
- Multiple images on 1 plate
- Symmetry is key
- 4 sided collimation
- Symmetric part placement
- Appropriate technique
- Software averages all image data
As with film/screen systems, artifacts can what?
Degrade images in digital systems.
What are artifacts?
Are any undesirable densities on the processed image other than those caused by scatter radiation or fog.
What are the 4 common types of artifacts in addition to operator errors that may cause artifacts?
Image plate artifacts, plate reader artifacts, image processing artifacts, and printer artifacts.
As the imaging plate ages it becomes prone to what?
Cracks from the action of removing and replacing the imaging plate within the reader.
Cracks in the imaging plate appear as areas of what?
Radiolucency on the image.
The imaging plate must be replaced when?
When cracks occur in clinically useful areas.
Adhesive tape used to secure lead markers to a surface can leave what?
Residue behind
If static exists because of low humidity, hair can do what this creating what?
Hair can cling to the imaging plate, creating another type of image plate artifact.
Backscatter is created by what and can cause what?
It is caused by x-ray photons transmitted through the back of the cassette and can cause dark line artifacts.
Areas of the lead coating on the cassette that are worn or cracked allow what?
Scatter to image these weak areas.
Proper collimation and regular cassette inspection help to eliminate what?
That areas of the lead coating on the cassette that are worn or cracked allow scatter to image these weak areas.
Processing artifacts can occur for many different reasons, such as what?
Choosing the incorrect processing parameter for a particular part or incorrect sampling of the image file.
Why is it very important to set appropriate technical factors and choose the correct body part so that what?
The software algorithms will produce the desired image.
Poor technique such as what can cause these algorithms to misrepresent the image?
Collimation, Grid selection, mAs, kVp, and positioning
The technologist must remain aware of what, because if not it can influence change in the final processed image?
All factors
The intermittent appearance of extraneous line patterns can be caused by?
Problems in the plate reader’s electronics.
What may have to be replaced to remedy this problem?
Reader electronics
White lines that are parallel to the direction of the plate travel are caused by what??
Dirt, dust, or scratches on the light guide.
What is a rare but possible artifact that can occur?
When multiple imaging plates are loaded into a single cassette.
In an instance where multiple imaging plates are loaded into a single cassette, what will happen?
Usually only one of the plates will be extracted, which leaves the other plate to be exposed multiple times.
What is this similar to?
A conventional film/screen double-exposed cassette.
Insufficient erasure after an overexposure may result in what?
Residual image information being left in the imaging plate before the next exposure.
Fine white lines may appear On The image because of?
Debris on the mirror in the laser printer.
Who will have to clean the printer?
Service personnel
Insufficient collimation can result in an improper what?
Calculation of the exposure indicator.
Improper calculation of the exposure indicator may result in what?
A misrepresentation of the displayed image.
If the cassette is exposed with the back of the cassette toward the source, the result will be?
Artifacts from any hinges or other hardware present on the back of the cassettes.
Care should be taken to expose only what?
The tube side of the cassette.
Underexpose produces __________ and overexposure reduces _________.
Quantum mottle
Contrast
The proper selection of technical factors is critical for both ?
Patient dose image quality and to ensure the appropriate production of light from the imaging plate.
In assessing the patient prior to a radiographic procedure, the radiographer must be aware of any what and why?
- removable prosthetic or orthopedic devices
- casts
- parts of clothing or items in the hair
It may impede full visualization of the anatomy of interest.
Carelessness during the the procedure can also result in what?
Parts of the equipment, such as electric cables or intravenous lines, getting in the way of the exposure and causing artifacts in the radiograph.
When patients must be held, carelessness result in the radiographer doing what?
In the radiographer’s own hands or the hands of a parent being superimposed over the anatomy of interest.