Radiofrequency leaks into the magnet room can result in an artifact often referred to as?

Radiofrequency leaks into the magnet room can create an artifact known as "zipper." This phenomenon occurs when unintended radiofrequency signals interfere with the data acquisition during an MRI scan, often manifesting as a line or "zipper" across the image. This artifact can detrimentally affect the quality of the MRI images, leading to misinterpretation of the results.

In contrast, ghosting refers to artifacts caused by patient motion during the scan, which appears as a blurred replica of the tissue in the image. Echo relates to the signal returned after a radiofrequency pulse is sent, and harmonics pertain to the frequency components associated with the signals, often connected to technical aspects of pulse sequences in MRI. While these other terms describe different phenomena associated with MRI imaging, zipper specifically captures the impact of radiofrequency leakage within the magnet room.