Presentation
Incidental finding. Pain post laparoscopic salpingectomy.
Patient Data
Small focal echogenicity superficially in the middle of the image, passing a short distance posteriorly into the dermis and just into the most superficial subdermal fat. This abnormality was seen on all images using this linear transducer but not using a different transducer.
Physical inspection of the transducer demonstrated a defect in the lens of the ultrasound transducer representing physical damage to the probe. This probe was therefore withdrawn from service to be sent back to the manufacturer for repair.
A photograph of a damaged linear transducer lens with holes in the lens material.
- Author: Daniel Bell, Senior Editor.
Case Discussion
Artifacts on ultrasound images may result from the hardware itself. In this case there is damage to the acoustic lens of the transducer. This results in signal drop out or other abnormalities on the images.
This damage is usually due to the operator dropping the transducer onto the floor or it may be due to inappropriate cleaning techniques of the transducer.
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