What is the effect of increasing wavelength on the depth of the image seen?

What is the effect of increasing wavelength on the depth of the image seen?

• A. The image becomes shallower
• B. The image quality improves but depth remains unchanged
• C. The image seen becomes deeper
• D. The image has a higher frame rate

Answer: (C)

In ultrasound imaging, longer wavelengths (lower frequencies) penetrate deeper into tissue. Attenuation and scattering rise with frequency, so higher-frequency (shorter-wavelength) waves lose energy more quickly and don’t reach as far. By increasing the wavelength, the waves travel further before weakening, allowing echoes from deeper structures to be detected and the image to appear deeper. This deeper view comes with a trade-off: resolution in depth gets poorer with longer wavelengths. Frame rate isn’t directly set by wavelength, so it doesn’t inherently increase with longer wavelengths.

In ultrasound imaging, longer wavelengths (lower frequencies) penetrate deeper into tissue. Attenuation and scattering rise with frequency, so higher-frequency (shorter-wavelength) waves lose energy more quickly and don’t reach as far. By increasing the wavelength, the waves travel further before weakening, allowing echoes from deeper structures to be detected and the image to appear deeper. This deeper view comes with a trade-off: resolution in depth gets poorer with longer wavelengths. Frame rate isn’t directly set by wavelength, so it doesn’t inherently increase with longer wavelengths.