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Spectral broadening in medical ultrasound refers to the widening of the Doppler spectrum, indicating a wider range of blood flow velocities. This artifact can complicate diagnosis as it may falsely suggest turbulent flow, even when actual blood flow is laminar. Factors contributing to spectral broadening include large sample volumes, suboptimal Doppler angles, and increased transducer…

In medical ultrasound, grating lobes are off-axis artifacts resulting from the geometric arrangement of transducer array elements. These spurious beams, distinct from the main ultrasound beam, can detect echoes from structures located outside the intended imaging plane. This phenomenon can lead to misleading images, obscuring true anatomy and potentially causing misdiagnosis. Understanding grating lobes is…

Acoustic shadowing is an ultrasound artifact appearing as a dark, anechoic region posterior to highly reflective or attenuating structures, like bone or gallstones. This occurs when sound waves are largely absorbed or reflected, preventing them from reaching deeper tissues. Recognizing acoustic shadowing is crucial for accurate diagnosis in medical imaging, helping differentiate between solid structures…

Slice-thickness artifact, also known as partial volume artifact, occurs in ultrasound when the ultrasound beam has a finite thickness, causing structures outside the intended imaging plane to be included in the image. This phenomenon can lead to misinterpretation, as it can mimic pathology or obscure true anatomical features. It is particularly relevant in medical imaging,…

Posterior enhancement, a crucial artifact in medical ultrasound, appears as an area of increased brightness or echogenicity located behind a structure that minimally attenuates the sound beam, such as a fluid-filled cyst or gallbladder. This occurs because the ultrasound waves pass through the fluid with little energy loss, leading to stronger echoes from tissues deeper…

Beam hardening in medical ultrasound refers to an artifact where the sound beam's average frequency increases as it travels deeper into tissue. This occurs because lower-frequency components of the ultrasound pulse are attenuated (absorbed) more rapidly than higher-frequency components. As a result, the beam becomes "harder," leading to brighter echoes and less accurate depth perception…

The mirror image artifact in medical ultrasound occurs when sound waves reflect off a strong, smooth reflector, like the diaphragm or pleura. This phenomenon creates a false, duplicate image of a structure appearing deeper than the real one, which is a common diagnostic pitfall. Recognizing this artifact is vital for accurate ultrasound interpretation, preventing misdiagnoses…

Reverberation ringing, a common artifact in medical ultrasound, appears as multiple bright, parallel lines on the image. This occurs when the ultrasound beam encounters two highly reflective surfaces, causing the sound waves to bounce back and forth between them before returning to the transducer. Such repetitive reflections create these spurious echoes, obscuring underlying anatomy and…

The reverberation artifact in medical ultrasound manifests as multiple bright, parallel lines on the image. This common imaging distortion occurs when the ultrasound beam repeatedly bounces between two highly reflective, parallel surfaces within the body, such as air-filled structures or metallic objects. These repetitive reflections create spurious echoes that appear deeper than the actual structure,…