Zipper Artifacts

There are various causes for zipper artifacts in images. Most of them are related to hardware or software problems beyond the radiologist immediate control. The zipper artifacts that can be controlled easily are those due to RF entering the scanning room when the door is open during acquisition of images. RF from some radio transmitters will cause zipper artifacts that are oriented perpendicular to the frequency axis of your image. Frequently there is more than one artifact line on an image from this cause. Other equipment and software problems can cause zippers in either axis.
Clicking the icon will show an axial MRI of the head in a patient. The scanner room door was left open during the acquisition causing the zipper artifacts shown.