Ultrasound Tech Quiz
Questions: 16 · 10 minutes
1. What does the ALARA principle mean in diagnostic ultrasound?
Always use the highest output to obtain the clearest image
Avoid adjusting output after an examination begins
Keep acoustic exposure as low as reasonably achievable while obtaining needed information
Apply identical output settings to every patient
2. The near field has appropriate brightness, but structures at the bottom of the image are uniformly too dark. Which initial adjustment is most targeted?
Move the focal zone to the skin surface
Increase only the near-field time-gain compensation controls
Increase the deeper time-gain compensation controls
Reduce the image depth while leaving the target outside the display
3. During pulsed-wave Doppler, the waveform wraps around the display because the Doppler shift exceeds the Nyquist limit. Which adjustment most directly increases that limit?
Increase the pulse repetition frequency or velocity scale
Increase Doppler gain
Increase the wall filter
Move the focal zone deeper
4. What does the piezoelectric effect allow an ultrasound transducer to do?
Convert electrical energy into sound waves and returning echoes into electrical signals
Convert returning echoes directly into visible light without electronic processing
Measure blood pressure by detecting changes in tissue temperature
Produce a magnetic field that aligns hydrogen nuclei in tissue
5. A smooth tissue interface acts as a specular reflector. It will generally produce the strongest returning echo when the sound beam strikes it:
At a very shallow, nearly parallel angle
Close to perpendicular to the interface
Only when a low-frequency curvilinear probe is used
After passing through a strongly attenuating structure
6. Compared with a lower-frequency transducer, a higher-frequency transducer generally provides:
Greater penetration with lower spatial resolution
Faster sound propagation through soft tissue
Better spatial resolution with less penetration
A wider field of view without changing the probe footprint
7. Why is ultrasound gel placed between the transducer and the patient’s skin?
To increase the transmitted frequency after the pulse leaves the probe
To prevent all attenuation within deeper tissues
To create Doppler shifts in stationary tissue
To remove air at the interface and improve sound transmission
8. After using a covered endocavitary ultrasound probe, what is the appropriate general reprocessing approach before reuse?
Remove the cover and immediately apply a new one
Wipe off visible gel only because the cover prevents contamination
Clean and high-level disinfect it according to manufacturer instructions and facility policy, even when a cover was used
Rinse the probe with water and skip further processing if it looks clean
9. On a standard color Doppler image, what do red and blue primarily indicate?
Arterial flow and venous flow, respectively
Oxygenated and deoxygenated blood, respectively
Normal and abnormal flow, respectively
Flow direction relative to the transducer, as defined by the displayed color map
10. A simple fluid-filled structure appears dark and the tissue directly behind it looks brighter than adjacent tissue. Which artifact best explains the brightness?
Mirror-image artifact
Posterior acoustic enhancement
Reverberation
Side-lobe artifact
11. Which description best matches M-mode ultrasound?
A record of motion over time along one selected scan line
A color display of mean flow information over an area
A three-dimensional volume assembled from multiple sweep angles
A spectral display showing only tissue stiffness
12. Why can bowel gas create marked shadowing or obscure deeper anatomy on ultrasound?
Sound travels through gas without reflection but loses all frequency
Gas eliminates attenuation in tissues behind it
Gas creates the same acoustic impedance as soft tissue
The soft-tissue–gas boundary strongly reflects and scatters the sound beam
13. A spectral Doppler velocity measurement is being made with the beam nearly perpendicular to blood flow. Which change best improves the reliability of the velocity estimate?
Increase overall B-mode gain until the vessel is brighter
Reposition the probe for a more parallel beam-flow angle and align the angle cursor with flow
Widen the sample volume to include the vessel walls
Lower the wall filter without changing the insonation angle
14. While scanning two adjacent vessels, one compresses fully with gentle probe pressure while the other remains patent and pulsatile. The compressible vessel is most consistent with a:
Artery
Vein
Tendon
Bile duct
15. You are optimizing a small structure at a specific depth. Where should the focal zone usually be positioned?
At the skin surface regardless of target depth
Above the target so the beam diverges before reaching it
At the deepest edge of the image in every examination
At or just below the structure of interest
16. A strongly attenuating calcification produces a dark region extending behind it. What is this finding called?
Acoustic shadowing
Posterior acoustic enhancement
Range ambiguity
Refraction duplication