An x-ray exposure above the highest level of the exposure latitude may result in which image error?

• A. Geometric distortion
• B. Saturation artifact
• C. Quantum mottle
• D. Excessive contrast

Answer: (B)

Overexposure beyond what the detector can record pushes the image into saturation, causing the brightest areas to clip and lose detail. This produces a saturation artifact, where highlights become pure white and fine information in those regions is lost. The other issues come from different problems: geometric distortion comes from improper positioning or tube/IR geometry, quantum mottle from too few photons and a grainy image, and excessive contrast from inappropriate processing or technique that changes overall image contrast rather than clipping the signal. So the artifact you’d see when the exposure goes past the detector’s latitude is a saturation artifact.