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Understanding Artifacts

Understanding artifacts is important in ultrasound imaging. Artifacts include acoustic shadows, enhancement, refraction, scatter, reverberation, and mirror images. Acoustic shadows appear behind strong reflectors like gallstones, while enhancement occurs behind weak reflectors like fluid. Refraction causes edge lines, and scatter from gas obstructs views. Reverberation tricks the probe into seeing deeper structures, while mirror images duplicate real structures across reflectors. Learning to recognize artifacts helps optimize ultrasound exams.

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60 views

Understanding Artifacts

Understanding artifacts is important in ultrasound imaging. Artifacts include acoustic shadows, enhancement, refraction, scatter, reverberation, and mirror images. Acoustic shadows appear behind strong reflectors like gallstones, while enhancement occurs behind weak reflectors like fluid. Refraction causes edge lines, and scatter from gas obstructs views. Reverberation tricks the probe into seeing deeper structures, while mirror images duplicate real structures across reflectors. Learning to recognize artifacts helps optimize ultrasound exams.

Uploaded by

Ibra Geeky
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Become an expert by learning the most important clinical skills at www.medmastery.com.

POCUS 101
Understanding artifacts

An artifact is any structure in an ultrasound image that is not directly produced by an organ.

High attenuation Low attenuation


When ultrasound beams encounter high attenuating When ultrasound beams encounter low attenuating
structures (such as this bright white structure), the tissue, such as fluid, echoes are enhanced
echoes are diminished posteriorly and an acoustic posteriorly, causing something called posterior
shadow—which is this dark anechoic shadow seen acoustic enhancement. That is why structures that
here—is formed. are posterior to this bladder are very bright (just as
bright as if you increased your gain).

When I look for gallstones, I often


will look primarily for the black
shadows to confirm the presence
of a stone.
Become an expert by learning the most important clinical skills at www.medmastery.com.

Refraction Gas scatter


At times you will notice, along the edges of a structure, When the ultrasound beam encounters air, much of
two dark lines coming off. This is edge artifact, and it the signal is lost to scatter, obstructing visualization
happens when ultrasound beams cross tissues that of any of the structures. Air will often become a
are very different. For example, you will see edge hindrance to you when scanning, and you will have
artifact at the edge of a vascular structure. to develop trouble-shooting techniques to get rid of
air in your scanning field.

Reverberation Mirror-image artifact


Reverberation artifact is caused when your If a structure, such as your liver, is located close to a
ultrasound beams encounter two highly reflected highly reflective interface (such as the diaphragm),
parallel structures, like the pleural line. The sound it is detected and displayed in its normal position.
will bounce back and forth between these two However, the strong reflection coming off the
structures, tricking your ultrasound probe to thinking diaphragm will cause additional sound waves to
that the length of the reflection back to the probe is bend towards the neighboring anatomy, causing
longer, as if you were visualizing deep structures. the sound waves to have a longer travel time and
When this happens multiple echoes are recorded to fool your ultrasound machine to thinking there is
and displayed deeper than the actual structure. an additional anatomic structure. A duplicate of the
real image appears on the other side of the strong
reflector, causing the mirror-image artifact.

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