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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…