Air artifact

Air bubbles inside the catheter produce noise which may appear as an area of interference (blind area) such as in 1 to 7 o’clock in the image shown. Air bubbles may also appear as concentric rings around the imaging catheter resulting to poor image penetration. Flushing with saline effectively removes air bubbles inside the catheter which should ideally be done before the catheter is advanced into the vessel to avoid the air embolism.