Unit 3: Radiographic Image Artifacts Flashcards
What two types of analysis is involved in an outcome asessment?
1.Repeat analysis
2.Artifact analysis
What is the purpose of repeat analysis?
PRovides important information about equipment preformance, departmental procedures and the skill level of the technologist
What are the 3 benefits of repeat analysis?
- IMproved department efficiency
- Lower department costs
- Lower patient radiation dose
When collecting information for repeat data analysis, how often is it collected and how large is thee sample for analysis?
-Collected monthly
-Paitent spample of at least 250 patients
What is causal repeat rate?
The percentage of repeats from a specific cause
What is the most common cause of repeats?
Positioning errors
In what two ways is causal repeat rate collected?
- Department staff enter the number manually and cause of repeat into RIS
- Automatically tabulated when images are ejected at the viewing monitor
As per SC35, what should the repeat rate be?
Less than 5%
(may not be practical in all departments)
Is the benchmark repeat rate higher or lower than SC35 at most hospitals?
Benchmark is set lower, so if you go higher, you are still under SC35 regulations
T/F
Artifacts can be generated at any step of the CR imaging workflow
True
What are the two categories of repeats for artifacts with CR plates?
- Image acquisition based
- Image processing based
What are the types 10 of operator errors that contribute to image acquisition artifacts in CR?
(Don’t have to memorize list, just know what happens)
- Twin artifacts (double exposure)
- Improper collimation
- Delayed scanning
- Exposure through back of the cassette
- Inappropriate exposure factors
- Scatter
- Care and Handling
- Light bulb effect
- Improper Grid usage: Moire
- Improper grid usage: Grid lines
(good to read over)
At what point does the CR plate become subject to fading?
After 48 hours of not processing the CR plate
T/F
The central primary beam consists of high E photons, wheras the low E photons are in the periphery. Hence, fading starts from the central.
FALSE: The central primary beam consists of high E photons, wheras the low E photons are in the periphery. Hence, fading starts from the periphery.
What does an overexposure error result in for the image?
Irreversible darkening of image, obscuring the details
What does an underexposure appear as in an image?
Grainy appearance due to quantum mottle
T/F
Noise primarily masks anatomy that is simular shades of grey
True
What is one of the primary causes of artifiacts caused by operator errors?
Negligence of care and handling of CR plates
What does buckling of CR plates occur from?
Mishandling of imaging plates by techs during the cleaning processes
What does buckling of CR plates cause?
Kink artifacts at the sites where the imaging plate is bent
What is the risk of kind artifiacts?
Can imitate pathological conditions
What causes phantom images on CR plates?
The use of corrosive cleaning agents damges the PSP
What artifact is seen here?
Kink artifact due to buckling
What is this artifact a result of?
Artifact due to corrosive cleaning agents
What is the reason for the light bulb effect occuring?
Increased exposure for obese patients and uncollimated x-ray beam
This increased exposure is due to the wide dynamic range and high sensitivity of the imaging plate.
What artifact is seen here?
Light bulb effect
How do you fix the light bulb effect?
Reducing backscatter by lowering the kilovoltage or by more precise collimation will limit the prevalence and impact of this artifact.
(not always possible)
What is the : Moire’ Pattern caused by in CR?
Grid specific
Caused when the grid lines on a low frequency stationary grid are parallel to the CR reader scan lines.
(Subtle)
What artifact is seen here?
Moire’ pattern
The moire´ pattern seen in this knee image was caused by using a grid with a frequency of 33 lines/cm, which was oriented with the grid lines parallel to the plate reader’s scan lines.
What is the Artefact remedy for the Moire’ pattern?
- Use grids with no less than 60 lines/cm.
- Grid lines should run perpendicular to the plate reader’s laser scan lines.
What artifact caused by error is this describing?
Failure of the grid to move during exposure, improper grid focusing distance, improper angulation of the central ray with respect to the grid lines, or improper centering of the tube.
Improper Grid Usage: Grid Lines
What artifact is seen here?
Grid Line Artifact
(very strong in terms of contrast)
What are the 2 subsections of Image Processing Artifacts?
Hardware- and software-induced artifacts.
What is the sampling frequency (Nyquist frequency)?
The number of these scanned lines per millimeter in the PSP scanner