Notebook Nine

Artifacts are any undesirable densities on the processed image other than those
caused by scatter radiation or fog.

There are four common types of artifacts in digital systems:

Imaging Plate Artifacts
Image Processing Artifacts
Plate Reader Artifacts
Printer Artifacts
Operator Errors (may cause artifacts)

Imaging plate artifacts: As imaging plates age, there are several things that can happen
to them. They can crack, have scratches, and tape that sticks markers to the cassette leave
a residue. Cracks on the plate appear as areas of radiolucency on the image. They turn out
as white and have the potential to look like something, when in reality it is just an error in
the plate. Backscatter created by x-ray photons that go through the back of the cassette
create dark line artifacts on the image. When cassettes reside in a place with low humidity,
static can exists and hair can stick to the cassette and show up on the image.

The image below shows what a crack in the imaging plate looks like. The arrows point to
cracks that look like potential foreign bodies.

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Imaging processing artifacts: When choosing the wrong processing parameter for
particular part can cause artifacts. It is important to choose the correct part being imaged
so that the software will produce the desired image. Poor techniques and poor positioning
can cause selected algorithm to misrepresent the image. There was a lab we did where
we xrayed a foot and ran it as a finger, I believe. When the final image came out, most of
the foot was burnt out because there was too much technique selected for a finger, but we
were imaging a foot. The image below displays the foot that got burnt out.

Plate reader artifacts: Printer artifacts can be caused by having dirt, dust, or scratches on
the light guide in the reader. This will cause an appearance of extraneous line patterns
parallel to the direction of plate travel. Either the reader needs to be cleaned by service
personnel or the reader will have to be replaced completely. You will know that is it a reader
error because it will happen on several plates, not just one specifically.

Another artifact can occur when multiple imaging plates are loaded into a single cassette.
Usually, only one of the plates will be extracted, which leaves the other plate to be exposed

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multiple times. This will look like a double-exposed cassette that you would see in
film/screen.

Insufficient erasure after an overexposure may result in residual imaging information being
left in the imaging plate before the next exposure. This can also occur if the lamp that
erases the exposure is broken.

Then, the moire effect can happen. The moire effect is when grid line or image noise
pattern that occurs either when the alignment of the grid to the laser scan direction is
incorrect or when spatial frequency is greater than the Nyquist frequency. This will result in a
wraparound image.

Printer artifacts: There may debris on the mirror in the laser printer and that will cause fine
white lines on the images, like in the image above. The way to fix this issue is to call
service personnel to clean the printer. These are easy to differentiate from other artifacts

Operator errors: This includes insufficient collimation, putting the cassette in backwards,
and improper technical factors.
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 Insufficient collimation can result in a misrepresentation of the displayed image.
Exposure field recognition errors results in poor density and poor contrast. There
will be a histogram analysis error where the software cannot find VOI.

Putting the cassette in backwards results in the grid pattern of cassette support to
be seen over the image. In the image below you can see the grid patterns and the
hinges of the grid in white.

Technical factors is another operator error. If you underexpose the image, it will
produce quantum mottle (failure of an imaging system to record densities). An
overexposure image reduces contrast. Proper technical factors are important for
patient dose, image quality, and to ensure the appropriate production of light from
the imaging plate.

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