An image artifact is any image attribute, which is not present in the original imaged object. An image artifact is sometime the result of an improper operation of the imager, and in other times a consequence of natural processes or properties of the human body.
Artifacts in diagnostic ultrasound are a reflection or an echo, which appears on the display and represents the real anatomical structure not correctly. An artifact can be a false, multiple or misleading information introduced by the imaging system or by interaction of ultrasound with the adjacent tissue.

Artifacts in ultrasound can be classified as to their source like e.g.:
Image artifacts can occur in each medical ultrasound. Then an interpretation of the image is complicated and can eliminate the structural information of objects looking for.

See also Ultrasound Imaging Procedures.

B-flow is an ultrasound imaging mode, which shows flowing blood as well as the vessel walls.

Bicycle stress echocardiography can be used instead of treadmill. Bicycle exercise is particularly useful for patients with valvular heart disease or for evaluated pulmonary artery pressures. It is also used as a substitute for treadmill exercise testing when the heart performance at each stage of exercise needs to be assessed and the patient is capable of bicycle exercise. Bicycle stress echocardiography has no additional risk compared to routine exercise.

See also M-Mode Echocardiography.

From Verathon Inc.;
'The BladderScan® BVM 6500 enables physicians quickly and noninvasively to determine UEBW (ultrasound estimated bladder weight) and bladder volume using 3-dimensional V-mode® ultrasound. The BVM 6500 was designed to assist in diagnosis of bladder hypertrophy secondary to obstruction.'

See also Urologic Ultrasound, Mirror Artifact, Pelvic Ultrasound, Transrectal Sonography and Ultrasonography.

(TIB) The bone thermal index is an exposure model for the case that the ultrasound beam passes through soft tissue and a focal region is in the immediate vicinity of bone.
The longitudinal waves of ultrasound are reflected and transformed into transverse waves, creating a heating effect. Muscle and bone absorb more energy at interfaces with other heterogeneous tissues.

See also Sheer Wave.