How can motion artifacts be minimized when scanning a patient's chest?

Minimizing motion artifacts during a chest scan is vital for obtaining clear and diagnostic images. Providing breathing instructions is a highly effective technique because it helps the patient to maintain a consistent position and avoid movement during image acquisition. When patients hold their breath as instructed, it reduces the likelihood of blurring or distortion caused by respiratory motion, which is particularly important in areas like the chest where breathing can significantly impact the image quality. Well-executed breath-holding can enhance the clarity of structures and improve the diagnostic utility of the images.

While electrocardiogram (EKG) gating is excellent for cardiac imaging to synchronize the scan with heartbeats, it is less relevant for minimizing motion artifacts related to breathing in a chest scan. Placing the patient's arms above their head can also help in certain scenarios but does not directly address the issue of respiratory motion. Correctly calibrating the detector array is important for optimizing image quality overall but does not specifically target motion artifacts related to patient movement during breathing.