Transcranial Doppler ultrasound (TCD) training

We offer a transcranial Doppler training that can be tailored to your needs, whether you wish to use TCD for sickle cell disease screening, detection of vasospasm in subarachnoid haemorrhage, investigation of cerebral artery abnormalities in vascular patients, embolus detection, for interoperative monitoring in carotid endarterectomy or for research.

The training is suitable for anyone who needs to use transcranial Doppler, including doctors, nurses, ultrasonographers, clinical scientists, technologists, and theatre staff. No prior experience is needed.

At the end of the course you will have sufficient skills to enable to achieve and maintain competence through further practice in your own institution. We will give you a certificate of attendance as well as a booklet containing a set of practical exercises designed to help you develop specific skills and give you the practice needed to become competent.

Course content

• Basic theory of Doppler ultrasound
• Clinical application(s)
• Practical techniques for locating the cerebral vessels
• Aliasing, artefacts and other pitfalls
• Intensive hands-on guided practice
• Handouts on theory and practical tips
• Certificate of competence

Day courses

We have been running structured day courses for up to eight people since February 2010. These courses include lectures and demonstrations of TCD techniques as well as plenty of opportunity for structured hands on practice. We will be running further courses during 2012, but they are very popular and fill up quickly, so please contact us| if you would like to receive details of future courses. The day course costs £250 per person.

One-to-one training

This training is run on a one-to-one basis so the content can be tailored to match your exact needs and prior experience, and dates are arranged to suit you. It consists of a day in Southampton where we introduce the theory and practice of TCD, giving you plenty of hands on practice under expert guidance. The cost is £575 for one person or £625 for two people trained together. We can also accommodate three people trained together for £675.

If you would like to have one-to-one training but do not have a colleague to attend with, we can try to match you with one or two others in the same situation, for training on a mutually convenient date. The cost for this is £300 per person.

Our trainers

Tony Birch is head of the neurological physics group in medical physics and bio-engineering, Southampton General Hospital. He has more than fifteen years experience of transcranial Doppler ultrasound in a variety of clinical applications and a track record of using TCD in research into cerebral function and vasospasm|.

Angela Cotton is head of non-ionising radiation support, part of the radiation protection group in medical physics and bio-engineering. She has twenty years experience in diagnostic ultrasound, ten of them in TCD. She is an experienced teacher and also runs our successful laser safety course|.

We have successfully trained many staff in TCD including nurses, technologists, operating department practitioners, haematologists, intensivists, stroke physicians, paediatricians and research staff.

Contact details

If you would like to discuss your needs please contact:

Angela Cotton
Medical physics and bioengineering
Southampton General Hospital
Southampton
SO16 6YD
Telephone: 023 8079 8616
Fax: 023 8079 4117
Email: angela.cotton@uhs.nhs.uk|