Question:
What are attenuation artifacts?
Submitted by Jim from Michigan on 03/01/2017
Answer:
by Benjamin Y. Cheong, MD
“Attenuation artifact” observed in a nuclear stress test is due to the reduction in the intensity / strength of signal when it travels through various body tissues of different densities, such as breast tissues, chest wall, and organs under the diaphragm. This may give rise to an apparent “abnormality” in an otherwise normal nuclear stress test.
These artifacts will be detected by doctors experienced in interpreting the data of stress tests. In addition, there are techniques, such as “attenuation correction” to minimize these artifacts.
