The retrolenticular afterglow: an echo enhancement artifact.

A mathematical model for a sonogram containing a circular object with a sonic speed less than that of its surroundings was constructed. The circular object acts as a lens to the ultrasound beam, which explains the refractive artifacts often observed. An unexpected artifact is also predicted, a region of increased echogenicity, which the authors named the retrolenticular afterglow, since it occurs behind a lens-like structure. An experiment was designed to show the appearance of this artifact occurring distal to an ethyl alcohol-filled cylindrical well in a tissue equivalent phantom.