What type of artifact can be minimized by administering glucagon during CT abdomen imaging?

In CT abdomen imaging, the administration of glucagon helps minimize motion artifacts caused by peristalsis in the gastrointestinal tract. When a patient’s organs, especially the intestines, are in motion due to natural processes like digestion, it can lead to blurriness or misalignment of structures in the scanned images, making it difficult to obtain clear diagnostic information. By temporarily suppressing gastrointestinal motility with glucagon, the movement is reduced, enabling clearer images to be produced that better reflect the anatomy.

Other types of artifacts, such as ring artifacts, cone beam artifacts, and beam hardening, are related to technical factors associated with the CT system or its operation, rather than physiological motion. Ring artifacts typically arise from detector malfunction; cone beam artifacts are related to the geometry of the scanner; and beam hardening occurs due to the differential attenuation of X-rays by dense materials. Administering glucagon does not address these specific issues but is effective in managing motion related to organ movement during scanning.