Helena Edlin

Helena started her career as a trainee in 1996 working with Professor Walker at Manchester royal infirmary. Over the years, she has been a member of various CSVS committees including most recently the Educational Pathways Representative.

Helena has been instrumental in developing and promoting new educational pathways and has contributed to the creation of a comprehensive career framework, including developing both the Level 4 apprenticeship in Vascular Science and the Vascular Science Undergraduate Degree. 

In 2023 she was an invited panelist on the Medical Advisory Board for Vascular Ultrasound and an invited specialist expert for the European Vascular Ultrasound focus group. She has also represented vascular science within the National School of Healthcare Sciences, where she advocated for the profession and contributed to national policy and curriculum development.

Helena has continuously led on significant quality & service improvements, most recently implementing a Vascular Scientist-led Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasound (CEUS) service. She has also taken an active role in research and been involved in several papers, notably her collaborative work on chronic deep vein thrombosis and the problem of post-thrombotic syndrome. Her research into thrombus stiffness and sheer wave elastography investigated the use of advanced imaging techniques to assess clot properties, and was published in the BSH 2023 Poster Abstract Book.

Helena has also contributed to significant advancements in clinical practice, exemplified by her work on improving patency rates of lower limb bypass grafts, which was recognized with the Chief Scientific Officer’s Award for Research in 2013.

Matthew Bartlett - Royal Free London NHS FT

Ultrasound based turbulence quantification can predict intimal hyperplasia development in arteriovenous fistula

Imaging surveillance does not offer significant improvements to long term arteriovenous fistula (AVF) patency, but the haemodynamic information obtained using Doppler ultrasound, may hold the key to developing improved monitoring techniques.

Distribution of ultrasound-based turbulence intensity ratio corresponds with regions of elevated oscillatory shear stress and accelerated NIH formation. ROC curve analysis found a USTIR >6.4 of the pre-maturation scans, could predict development of haemodynamically significant NIH at 10 weeks with a sensitivity of 87.5% and a specificity of 80%.

Ben Warner-Michel - Kingston Hospital NHS FT

Think Zebras: Identification and Investigation of Vascular Mimics

Pathologies of the peripheral vascular system, especially those involving venous disease, usually present with symptoms including generalised or localised pain and oedema. When patients present with these symptoms, it is often prudent to exclude vascular pathology such as venous thrombosis or peripheral arterial disease using duplex ultrasonography.

However, there are occasions in which these phenomena are caused by other types of pathology that mimic vascular symptoms. Vascular ultrasound operators are likely to encounter these pathologies throughout their practice, and in these instances it can be difficult to know how best to scan and report these findings.