Introduction to Diagnostic Ultrasound in Podiatry with Gael CPD

The use of diagnostic ultrasound is gaining a huge amount of traction in the Podiatry world with more and more podiatrists becoming aware of how it could benefit their practice. However, for many podiatrists the thought of learning about diagnostic ultrasound can be quite daunting and knowing the first steps to take can be tricky.

GAEL CPD recently ran a 3 part webinar series offering an incredible insight and introduction to diagnostic ultrasound in podiatry. With guest speakers including Stuart Wildman from Brunel University and Chris Myers from SMUG as well as CASE accredited podiatrists Gareth McMullan and Claire Rooney, this webinar series is absolutely jam packed with fantastic information.

Presenters Emily Haworth and Sean Savage are both themselves highly qualified podiatrists, bringing a wealth of knowledge across sports podiatry, the high-risk foot, diagnostic scanning and more with Sean taking up a teaching role on The PG Cert Foot and Ankle diagnostic ultrasound course at Brunel University.

Across the three sessions, Emily, Sean and their guests cover everything you need to know if you’re thinking about adding scanning to your skillset.

In session one they speak about terminology, settings, holding the probe, scanning different axis and give a tour around an ultrasound machine. Scanning of the plantar fascia, the achilles tendon and the rearfoot is reviewed and the educational requirements for diagnostic scanning in podiatry are touched on.

Session 2 recaps session 1 and we dive a bit further into education with Stuart Wildman and Gareth McMullan. There’s also an overview of scanning the medial ankle with some really useful slides to help to properly visualise the anatomical structures.

Session 3 looks at scanning the lateral ankle and the forefoot including neuroma bursal complexes and the plantar place. We hear from Chris Myers about the demands of a US PG Cert course and what will make a good sonographer. Emily discusses the very exciting area of diagnostic ultrasound in the at-risk limb and the huge potential in this important area while Claire Rooney shares how invaluable she finds scanning to be in her every day practice.

All in all, this webinar series is a treasure trove of information for would be scanners and offers an invaluable insight across all aspects of diagnostic ultrasound in podiatry.

Having access to a diagnostic ultrasound machine is key for anyone who’d like to do a PG Cert. Celtic SMR offer a range of diagnostic scanning equipment including the highly portable Clarius handheld and SonoScape laptop scanners up to cart based systems. View the range HERE.