ESO Research presented at British Medical Ultrasound Society

Another first for ESO!

On the 11th of December, Katie Johnston presented to the British Medical Ultra Sound Society (BMUS), her research on the possible linkage of patient-perceived pain in the temperomandibular joint (TMJ) with the width of the TMJ assessed via ultra sound. This work was initially undertaken as her undergraduate research dissertation from 2013.

She and her co-authors, Lance Bird and Philip Bright, demonstrated that patients reporting increasing levels of pain from the major joint of the jaw also show a corresponding change in the physical dimensions of that joint. This work established that levels of jaw dysfunction can be quantified using a simple patient-administered instrument and potentially co-predict joint capsule changes.

Katie was presenting as part of an event where all other delegates were Radiographers at Senior Registrar or Consultant level with National Health Service/Corporate business funding. Katie’s work was the only undergraduate student research presented that day and potentially the first time an osteopath has disseminated their work within a forum of this type. It is definitely a first for the ESO and we would like to congratulate her and all those clinical and academic staff who contributed to the project.

Katie and the team also had their research accepted for publication in the ‘Ultra Sound’ journal in February 2015.

Well done!