MSK | Imaging the enemy: Debilitating conditions
Tracks
Arena 2 | Virtual
MSK
| Sunday, May 31, 2026 |
| 11:20 AM - 12:00 PM |
| Arena 2 | Canon Medical |
Speaker
Prof Debbie Turner
Professor In Podiatry
Queensland University of Technology
Inside the inflamed foot: A sonographer’s guide to what podiatrists need
11:20 AM - 11:40 AMPresentation Synopsis / Abstract
This presentation explores how detailed musculoskeletal ultrasound of the foot—both static and dynamic—can directly support podiatrists’ clinical reasoning and management planning for inflammatory and rheumatologic foot conditions. By documenting anatomical variation and precisely describing the size, position and behaviour of pathology on movement and loading, sonographers can provide podiatrists with insights that extend well beyond image interpretation to directly inform diagnosis, future load management and treatment strategy. The session highlights the value of functional testing, including real time assessment of how soft tissue structures respond to loading, movement and positional change, revealing issues not evident at rest. Additional emphasis will be placed on recognising erosions, enthesophytes, synovial hypertrophy and enthesitis, and how the distribution and severity of these findings can offer clinicians meaningful insights into disease activity, options for management and potential biomechanical drivers of symptoms. Through a series of case examples, attendees will see how nuanced imaging findings help answer key clinical questions, refine differential diagnoses, and guide evidence based decisions involving orthotic design, footwear selection, rehabilitation programming and activity modification. The presentation aims to equip sonographers with practical techniques to improve the clinical usefulness of foot and ankle ultrasound imaging for podiatrists and strengthen collaborative practice.
Biography
Prof Debbie Turner |
Queensland University of Technology
Debbie Turner is a Professor in Podiatry at Queensland University of Technology. She is an experienced podiatrist with an extended scope of practice including diagnostic ultrasound imaging, injection therapy, clinical gait analysis and a clinical specialist interest in rheumatology and diabetes. She has worked as a clinical specialist podiatrist previously in leading centres for rheumatology research including Leeds and Glasgow in the UK and gained an Arthritis Research UK academic fellowship in 2007. She has published extensively in the field of rheumatology, helped to build capacity in podiatry rheumatology research.
Dr Ximena Wortsman
Medical Director Institute For Diagnostic Imaging And Research Of The Skin And Soft Tissues, Adjunct Professor Department Of Dermatology, Universidad De Chile And University Of Miami
Universidad de Chile and University of Miami
Ultrasound in skin oncology
11:40 AM - 12:00 PMPresentation Synopsis / Abstract
Color Doppler ultrasound has emerged as a valuable non-invasive imaging modality in the comprehensive management of skin cancer, providing real-time structural and vascular information beyond clinical and dermoscopic assessment. This presentation highlights the role of high- and ultra-high-frequency ultrasound combined with Color Doppler in the diagnostic, presurgical, surgical, and postsurgical settings of skin cancer, with emphasis on characteristic ultrasonographic patterns.
In the diagnostic phase, ultrasound enables accurate characterization of lesion morphology, depth, and extent of skin cancer. Distinct ultrasonographic patterns can be identified among common skin cancers. These pattern-based features, combined with Doppler vascular assessment, enhance diagnostic confidence and risk stratification.
In the presurgical setting, ultrasound facilitates optimal surgical planning and helps reduce incomplete excisions. During surgery, ultrasound guidance can assist in real-time localization of tumor margins, particularly in complex or poorly defined lesions.
In the postsurgical phase, Color Doppler ultrasound is useful for early detection of residual disease, recurrence, and complications.
Overall, Color Doppler ultrasound represents a versatile and dynamic tool that enhances clinical decision-making across all stages of skin cancer management. Its integration into routine dermatologic practice has the potential to improve surgical outcomes, minimize morbidity, and reduce unnecessary procedures.
In the diagnostic phase, ultrasound enables accurate characterization of lesion morphology, depth, and extent of skin cancer. Distinct ultrasonographic patterns can be identified among common skin cancers. These pattern-based features, combined with Doppler vascular assessment, enhance diagnostic confidence and risk stratification.
In the presurgical setting, ultrasound facilitates optimal surgical planning and helps reduce incomplete excisions. During surgery, ultrasound guidance can assist in real-time localization of tumor margins, particularly in complex or poorly defined lesions.
In the postsurgical phase, Color Doppler ultrasound is useful for early detection of residual disease, recurrence, and complications.
Overall, Color Doppler ultrasound represents a versatile and dynamic tool that enhances clinical decision-making across all stages of skin cancer management. Its integration into routine dermatologic practice has the potential to improve surgical outcomes, minimize morbidity, and reduce unnecessary procedures.
Biography
Dr Ximena Wortsman |
Universidad de Chile and University of Miami
Dr. Ximena Wortsman is a radiologist and pioneer in dermatologic ultrasound. She is ranked top 1 worldwide in the number of publications and citations on dermatologic ultrasound. Due to her work in this field, she has been awarded the category of fellow member of the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine (AIUM) the American Society of Ultrasound, which is a way to recognize individuals who have substantially contributed in a most distinguished fashion to the field of ultrasound. She also received the prestigious Joseph H. Holmes Clinical Ultrasound Pioneer Award 2024 from the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine.
During the last 24 years, she has been fully dedicated to developing applications and research in dermatologic ultrasound. She has more than 280 publications, including three books, “Dermatologic Ultrasound with Clinical and Histologic Correlations,” “Atlas of Dermatologic Ultrasound,” and “Textbook of Dermatologic Ultrasound” and a publication in the The Lancet. She is in the Top 2% Scientist Ranking according to Standford and Elsevier data and her current h-index is 49 in Google Scholar and 34 in Web of Science.
Dr. Wortsman currently works at the Institute for Diagnostic Imaging and Research of the Skin and Soft Tissues in Santiago, Chile. She is an adjunct professor at the Departments of Dermatology of Universidad de Chile and Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile in Santiago, Chile and also a Voluntary Associate Professor at the Department of Dermatology and Cutaneous Surgery of the University of Miami, Miller School of Medicine, Miami, USA.
Dr. Wortsman has been a speaker at multiple international dermatological and radiological congresses about this field and belongs to several international scientific societies.
Her daily work and lines of research comprise a wide range of ultrasound applications in dermatology. She has actively participated in the early ultrasound detection and characterization of multiple dermatologic pathologies and in creating guidelines, protocols, and sonographic scorings in this field, which are currently used in multiple countries around the world.
More information at: www.ximenawortsman.com; X (ex-Twitter): @xworts and Instagram: @xworts
