Chapter 1

❓ What Are Artifacts?

Artifacts are things that appear on the ultrasound screen but are not real structures. They can make it hard to understand the image.

These can be caused by:

• The machine settings
  
  

• How the probe is held
  
  

• How the sound waves travel in the body
  
  

• Certain body parts (like gas or bones)
  
  

⚠️ Common Artifacts in Ultrasound

Artifact Name

What It Looks Like

Why It Happens

Shadowing

Black shadow behind bone or stones

Sound waves can't pass through hard things

Enhancement

Brighter area behind fluid (like bladder or cyst)

Sound passes easily through fluid

Reverberation

Multiple lines or echoes that repeat

Sound bounces back and forth between two surfaces

Mirror Image

Duplicate image on the other side

Sound reflects off strong surface like diaphragm

Edge Artifact

Shadows or bright lines at the edge of curved objects

Sound bends at curved edges

🖼️ Illustration Suggestions (to generate later):

• Side-by-side examples of shadowing, enhancement, and mirror image
  
  

• Labeled image showing reverberation lines and edge artifact
  
  

💡 How to Avoid or Correct Errors

• Change the angle of the probe
  
  

• Use more gel
  
  

• Ask the patient to take a deep breath
  
  

• Adjust gain, depth, and focus
  
  

• Try scanning from a different position
  
  

• Understand the cause of the artifact (don’t mistake it for a real finding)
  
  

❌ Other Common Errors by Beginners

• Using wrong depth or gain
  
  

• Holding probe upside down
  
  

• Mislabeling images
  
  

• Measuring in the wrong direction
  
  

• Saving blurry images