Final answer:
The 'boiled egg' artifact refers to the streaking that may occur in the posterior fossa area during a CT brain scan, caused by the complex anatomy of the skull's base affecting the clarity of CT images.
Step-by-step explanation:
The streaking artifact that occurs in the area of the posterior fossa during a CT examination of the brain may be referred to as the "boiled egg" artifact. This type of artifact can happen due to the complex anatomy at the base of the skull, where the posterior fossa is the deepest part containing the cerebellum.
The posterior cranial fossa is bounded anteriorly by the petrous ridges, with the occipital bone forming the floor and posterior wall. It's important to understand that the floors of the brain case, or the skull base, have several openings and vary in depth, which can present challenges for imaging technologies like CT scans. The presence of these complex anatomical features can lead to difficulties in acquiring clear images, potentially causing artifacts such as the "boiled egg" effect, where there appears to be a streak or band of distortion in the images produced by CT scans.