What does the medical term artifact mean?

Answer 1

Artifactual means pertaining to an artifact. An artifact, in medical terms, is a finding (usually in radiology) that isn't made by the body, but is from some external cause. For instance, think about making a photocopy on a maching with a dirty glass: you get artifactual images on the copy that weren't present on the original. Artifactual findings can also be caused by surgery or, in the case of x-rays, by jewelry or bra clasps.

Answer 2

An artifact in medical terms is something recorded on a study that is caused by an external complication rather than by the medical phenomenon being studied. For instance, if you have a big chocolate syrup stain on the lens of the otoscope, you'll see a brown smudge when looking in someone's ear. That brown smudge, though, is an artifact, not actually part of the ear.

Answer 3

Foreign particles contaminate the Xray image, an example: a faint lucent line projecting over the distal tibia/ fibula on the lateral view may be artificially present and not from a fracture/trauma in absence of known Trauma.

Answer 4

A doctor that may not want to see the truth