MRI JUST BECAME AFFORDABLE!

Heathlands Veterinary Hospital is pleased to announce the arrival of a new low cost fixed MRI installation, the first of its type on the south coast  of England.

The unit is the latest Esaote Vet MR scanner installed in the UK by  Immotek  International and is identical to units used at Cambridge Vet School and the Queen Mother Hospital.   Maintenance  costs for this machine are  much lower  than some other systems although image quality is just as good. This means that we can offer lower cost MRI scans, from just £490 plus vat. Hopefully, this will bring the undoubted benefits of this technology to those clients lacking insurance.

Since its arrival on the 3rd of July 2006, we have been involved in an intensive training program with the assistance of Immotek and of medical MRI diagnostic imaging consultants. We have been perfecting our protocols, initially  using cadavers, then first opinion cases and now,  with the news of the facility spreading widely, an increasing number of referral cases. We are very pleased with the quality of images being achieved. 3 members of the practice personnel have the ability to run routine scans.

Animals are anaesthetised for the scan, which normally lasts 30-40 minutes. They are   given i/v fluids at 5x maintenance during anaesthesia which is given through a long-circle Humphrey ADE with capnographic monitoring.

The resultant images are read by A. B.  Sim (with  referral to expert imaging advice, if required) and a written report sent to the referring vet. A copy of the complete scan sequences are sent on disc in Dicom format. Dicom allows the images to be manipulated at will for viewing or presentation. If your current veterinary  computer system does  not support Dicom, appropriate freeware can be easily downloaded from the internet. Osiris 4 is a simple system that allows  the images to be widely manipulated, including altering of the grey scale. If wished, a selection of the most pertinent sections can be converted to bitmap format and emailed to you. (warning- these are still large files and broadband is required).

We have found MRI to be particularly useful in the investigation of cranial  and spinal disease (neurocranium/splanchnocranium/middle ear/retrobulbar space/retropharyngeal space/brachial  plexus/disc prolapses/lumbosacral stenosis/discospondylitis) .  We have also had good results in investigating soft tissue sinuses and in the cruciate deficient stifle.