Ultrasound Physics

Artifacts

Hospital Physics Group

George David, M.S.
Associate Professor of Radiology

Artifacts
Assumptions can cause artifacts when

assumed conditions are not true

sound travels at 1540 m/s
sound travels in a straight line
All sound attenuation exactly

0.5 dB/cm/MHz

Distance from
Transducer
Echo positioning on image
distance from transducer calculated
from assumed speed of sound
can place reflector too close to or
too far from transducer
can alter size or shape of
reflector

V = 1380 m/s
Actual Object Position
X Position of Object on Image

V = 1540 m/s

Attenuation
For all scanning your scanner assumes
soft tissue attenuation

.5 dB/cm per MHz

Your scanners action

compensate for assumed
attenuation
allow operator fine tuning

TGC

Shadowing
Clinical Manifestation
reduction in imaged reflector

amplitude

Cause
object between this reflector &

transducer attenuates ultrasound

more than assumed
assumed compensation not enough
to provide proper signal amplitude
intensity under-compensated

Opposite of

Enhancement

Attenuates
more than .5
dB/cm/MHz

Shadowed
Reflector

Shadowing

Attenuates
more than .5
dB/cm/MHz

Shadowed
Reflector
http://raddi.uah.ualberta.ca/~hennig/teach/cases/artifact/noframe/imag2-f2.htm

Enhancement
Clinical Manifestation
increase in imaged reflector
amplitude
Cause
object between reflector &

Attenuates
less .5
dB/cm/MHz

transducer attenuates ultrasound

less than assumed
assumed compensation more than
needed to provide proper signal
amplitude
Enhanced
intensity over-compensated
reflector

Opposite of Shadowing

Enhancement
Attenuates
less .5
dB/cm/MHz

Enhanced
reflector
http://raddi.uah.ualberta.ca/~hennig/teach/cases/artifact/noframe/imag6-f1.htm

Refraction Artifact
refraction alters

beam direction
direction of sound travel

assumed to be direction
sound transmitted

Actual Object Position

X Position of Object on Image

X
Refraction

Refraction Artifact
refraction alters beam direction
scanner places dot in wrong

location along line of assumed

beam direction
can alter reflector shape

Lobe Artifacts
Side Lobes
beams propagating from a
single element transducer
in directions different from
primary beam
reflections from objects
here will be placed on
main sound transmission
line
Grating Lobes
same as above except for

transducer arrays

Range Ambiguity
Reflection from 1st pulse

reaches transducer after

2nd pulse emitted
scanner assumes this is

reflection from 2nd pulse

places echo too close & in
wrong direction

Scanner Assumptions
Multipath
Artifact

Actual Object Position

X Position of Object on Image
X

Multiple Reflection
Scenario
reflection from reflector B

splits at A
some intensity re-reflected
toward B
Result

1 2

later false echoes heard

scanner places dots behind

reflector B

1
2
3

real
false

Artifacts
Reverberation (multiple

echo) artifact

comet tail effect is 1

example
can have dozens of multiple
reflections between
transducer & reflector
2 reflectors

Mirror Image
common around diaphragm
& pleura

Real

Mirror

Artifacts

http://raddi.uah.ualberta.ca/~hennig/teach/cases/artifact/noframe/imag1-f1.htm
Caused by Shotgun Pellets

Multiple Reflection
Scenario
Real

Mirror

http://raddi.uah.ualberta.ca/~hennig/teach/cases/artifact/noframe/imag5-f2.htm

Resolution Artifacts
Axial and Lateral Resolution Limitations
results in failure to resolve 2 adjacent
structures as separate
minimum image size equal to resolution
in each direction

Section Thickness Artifact

anatomy may not be uniform

over its thickness

universal problem of imaging
3D anatomy
in CT & MRI this is known as
partial volume effect

Thickness

Constructive
Interference
2 echoes
received at same
time
in phase
Result
higher intensity

+
=

Destructive Interference
2 echoes received

at same time
Exactly 180o out
of phase
Result
flat (zero) wave

Acoustic Speckle
texture seen on image

may not correspond to

tissue texture
Results from
interference effects
between multiple
reflectors received
simultaneously which
can
add together

constructive interference

subtract from one another

destructive interference

Mirror Image & Doppler

Analogous to mirror image artifact discussed

previously
mirrored structures can include mirrored vessel
duplicate image visible on opposite side of

strong reflector
example: bone

Doppler data also duplicated

flow & spectrum copied from original vessel

Spectral Duplication
mirror image of Doppler spectrum

appears on opposite side of baseline

causes
electronic duplication caused by

receiver gain set too high

overloads receiver

True sensing caused by too large

Doppler angle

beam covers flow in both directions

Blood
flows
toward
transducer
Blood
flows away
from
transducer

Aliasing
Results in detection of improper

flow direction
occurs because sampling rate
too slow
Similar to wagon wheels
rotating backwards in movies

Aliasing

Sufficient Sampling

Insufficient Sampling

Aliasing
Which way is this shape turning?

#1

#2

#3

Aliasing
Did the shape turn 1/4 turn right
or
3/4 turn left?
1 1/4 turn right?

#1

#2

#3

Aliasing
Does it help to sample more often?

#1

#1A

#2

#2A

#3

#3A

Aliasing

Maximum detectable Doppler shift equals

half the pulse repetition frequency

Sampling rate
Same as pulse repetition frequency
Must be at least twice highest frequency to be

sensed

Aliasing occurs when Doppler shift exceeds

0.5 * PRF

Coping with Aliasing

decrease transducer frequency
reduces Doppler shift
shift proportional to operating frequency
increase pulse repetition frequency
decreases maximum imaging depth
increases likelihood of range ambiguity for pulsed

instruments
77 X fD (kHz)
v (cm/s) = -------------------------fo (MHz) X cos

Coping with Aliasing

increase Doppler angle
Reduces relative flow rate between blood &
transducer
Reduces Doppler shift sensed by scanner

77 X fD (kHz)
v (cm/s) = -------------------------fo (MHz) X cos

Coping with Aliasing:

Baseline Shifting
operator instructs scanner to assume

that aliasing is occurring

scanner does calculations based on operators assumption

scanner has no way of determining

where in image aliasing occurs