NOTEBOOK #9

Digital Artifacts
1. Dirt on the optics which include the mirrors or lenses. This artifact will appear
as white (radiopaque) lines on the image. Must be cleaned by professionals.

2. Ghosting of an image. This occurs when primary erasure is not successful and
results in double anatomy on the image. Example is if you see a pelvis shining
through on a chest x-ray. To prevent this primary erasure should be done to
cassettes at least once a week.

3. Backwards cassette causes an artifact as well. This will show a certain pattern
on the image, which will change depending on the manufacturer. This is
clearly a avoidable artifact and demonstrates poor knowledge of handling a
cassette.
 NOTEBOOK #9

4. Backscatter can occur as well. This falls under a IR artifact. This occurs due to
a crack in the aluminum or lead on the back of the cassette. This can be
avoided if the cassette is properly cared for and not dropped. The appearance
of this artifact is dark (radiolucent) lines on the image.

5. There are also software artifacts. A common one is quantum mottle. This
artifact occurs when the technique chosen for the exposure is lacking in the
quantity of photons (mAs). This will appear as grainy on the image, which will
take away the recorded detail of an image.

6. Histogram error is when the wrong histogram is applied to the image resulting
in a rescaling error. This is a operator error that leaves the image with poor
density and a lack of contrast.
 NOTEBOOK #9

Citations
https://www.google.com/url?
sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&ved=0ahUKEwi5utrPmc_SAhXny
oMKHUiKAtkQjRwIBw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fqcinradiography.weebly.com%2Fcr-
erasure&bvm=bv.149397726,d.amc&psig=AFQjCNFQ9tBb1OjjjIyZVJsbrk6cNxEL_
w&ust=1489347414456837
https://www.google.com/url?
sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEw
ia8Kmrm8_SAhWr5oMKHb17AuMQjRwIBw&url=https%3A%2F
%2Fwww.reddit.com%2Fr%2Fpics%2Fcomments
%2Fqecm7%2Fsomething_went_wrong_when_the_xray_was_shot_but
%2F&bvm=bv.149397726,d.cGc&psig=AFQjCNGs6qcHckuwxOQ8461QSYNgSE5
Z2A&ust=1489347877009142
https://www.google.com/url?
sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEw
id8_TGnM_SAhVL7YMKHROLBHgQjRwIBw&url=http%3A%2F
%2Fwww.uospacs.com%2FeAtlas%2Fartifact-with-darker-
areas.php&bvm=bv.149397726,d.cGc&psig=AFQjCNGcNSWpzHyZZ0cVtEElEzFB
w6Ue1g&ust=1489348184304812
https://www.google.com/url?
sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEw
iTwYy4nc_SAhWj8YMKHa8YCeQQjRwIBw&url=https%3A%2F
%2Fwww.researchgate.net%2Ffigure%2F23187721_fig7_Figure-2-Quantum-
mottle-Dorsopalmar-radiographs-of-the-right-manus-of-a-dog-A-
The&bvm=bv.149397726,d.cGc&psig=AFQjCNHnt4UIA7vVj9jgkpswnMsdqRCBlQ
&ust=1489348417480716
https://www.google.com/url?
sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEw
i6n7zVnc_SAhWF6oMKHVewCAcQjRwIBw&url=http%3A%2F
 NOTEBOOK #9

%2Fwww.xrayfocus.info%2Fqc%2Fartifacts
%2Fartifacts_cr.html&bvm=bv.149397726,d.cGc&psig=AFQjCNHbl3J4HGE5wakj8
Fe16mjFm8bgyA&ust=1489348502766584
https://www.google.com/url?
sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEw
iM_pCXu53TAhUl94MKHa9jD-MQjRwIBw&url=https%3A%2F
%2Fopeni.nlm.nih.gov%2Fdetailedresult.php%3Fimg
%3DPMC3076558_247_2010_1954_Fig2_HTML%26req
%3D4&bvm=bv.152180690,d.amc&psig=AFQjCNFGybGSOTcaDpcJ8Na8QUPxp26
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