Which artifact is caused by strong reflectors or excessive gain in Doppler imaging?

The correct answer highlights the characteristics of artifacts that arise in Doppler imaging, particularly under the influence of strong reflectors or excessive gain. The mirror image artifact occurs when the ultrasound beam reflects off a strong acoustic interface, causing it to create an additional, false representation of an interface or structure deeper in the image than the true anatomical location. This effect can lead to misinterpretation as the reflected sound waves produce an artifact that appears like a duplicate of a structure, misleading the clinician.

In Doppler imaging, when gain settings are too high or when very strong reflectors, such as highly vascular tissues, are present, the signals can bounce back and forth, generating this mirror image, which contributes to the potential for erroneous findings during vascular assessments. Understanding this artifact is crucial for accurately interpreting Doppler ultrasound results and ensuring patient diagnoses are based on the most accurate representations of vascular conditions.

Other artifacts may occur due to different phenomena, such as side lobe artifact resulting from secondary lobes of the ultrasound beam, reverberation involving multiple reflections in tissues, or aliasing linked to insufficient sampling of high-velocity blood flow. However, none of these specifically involve the creation of a false duplicate image caused by strong reflectors in the same manner as the mirror