Computed Tomography Technologist Practice Exam

Out-of-field artifacts in CT scans typically occur when objects or structures that are not included within the scanning area affect the image quality by causing signal interference or loss of detail. Increasing the standard field of view (SFOV) during a scan directly reduces the likelihood of these artifacts, as it expands the area that the scanner can effectively image, thus ensuring that important structures are captured within the designated scan region. This helps to minimize the effect of any surrounding anatomy or objects that might contribute to artifacts or distortions.

The other options, while they may have implications for image quality or patient safety, do not specifically address the challenge of out-of-field artifacts. Reducing radiation dose focuses on patient protection rather than image integrity, decreasing acquisition time could lead to insufficient data being collected to create clear images, and modifying pixel size affects resolution but does not inherently manage the effects of out-of-field structures. Therefore, increasing the SFOV is a targeted approach for minimizing the specific issue of out-of-field artifacts in CT scans.