A Review of Fluoroscopic Image-Intensifier Artifacts and the Next Generation of Isocentric C-Arm Imaging.

The term parallax has been largely misused when referring to distortion of C-arm fluoroscopy by distinct artifacts, namely, pincushion distortion and S distortion artifacts. A thorough understanding of the inner workings of an image intensifier allows a surgeon to recognize intraoperative imaging that is potentially misleading. The next generation of C-arms allows for intraoperative 3 dimensional imaging, and newer detector technology will eventually make image-intensifier artifact a problem of the past.