“There were courses and lecture series, and a few papers written, but there wasn’t a comprehensive book on neuromuscular ultrasound that put everything together.” – Michael S. Cartwright, MD
I grew up in Rochester, Minnesota, where the Mayo Clinic is located. There were always a lot of medical people around growing up and because of that I had a lot of exposure to the field of medicine. The reason I chose neurology, specifically, was that I liked the mystery. I liked trying to figure out the diagnosis and I really enjoyed the anatomy. I thought it was a good way to combine my clinical skills and my interest in anatomy. Ever since the first week of medical school, I’ve really just enjoyed neurology.
In 2001, when I was a third-year medical student, I was looking to do a research project, specifically in neurology. I approached Dr. Francis Walker, the co-editor of Neuromuscular Ultrasound, and he said that for my project I should look at ultrasound of nerves. I decided to do a project looking at carpal tunnel syndrome. I ended up doing an ultrasound on all 100 of my classmates and wrote it up, which was well-received. From there, it took off and we ended up seeing that there was a need to be filled. There were courses and lecture series, and a few papers written, but there wasn’t a comprehensive book on neuromuscular ultrasound that put everything together. So, the idea behind the book was to combine all the knowledge that had been written and talked about in the field and create a textbook with information about nerve and muscle ultrasound imaging.
Neuromuscular Ultrasound is useful for many different specialties. We’ve worked with anesthesiologists, who are interested in imaging nerve for nerve block; radiologists, especially musculoskeletal radiologists; physicians involved with sports medicine; rheumatologists; neurosurgeons, orthopedists, plastic surgeons; as well as those who do hand surgery or nerve microsurgery. There’s interest from quite a few fields in this topic.
Michael S. Cartwright, MD is Associate Professor of Neurology at Wake Forest School of Medicine. He has a special interest in neuromuscular diseases, and has participated in a Clinical Research Training Fellowship sponsored by the Muscular Dystrophy Association. He is an author and co-editor of Neuromuscular Ultrasound.
Dr. Cartwright is certified in neurology by the American Board of Psychiatry & Neurology. He holds his medical degree from Wake Forest School of Medicine, and completed residencies in Wake Forest School of Medicine affiliated hospitals. His research focuses on neuromuscular ultrasound in focal nerve disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, myasthenia gravis, sports neurology, and student and resident education.
