Page 11 - act-annual-review-2022-2023

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Page 11 - act-annual-review-2022-2023
P. 11

OUR IMPACT ON HORSES





            The ACT has helped fund a revolutionary             Confronting lameness                                Improving education
            new CT scanner for the RVC’s Equine                 Lameness is the most common clinical complaint      The QECT will contribute to the learning and
            Referral Hospital. The Qalibra Exceed               in equine practice and as a result orthopaedic      development of future veterinarians, veterinary
            CT (QECT) scanner uses the newest                   complaints form a large proportion of the RVC       specialists and inspire a new generation of
            medical CT on the market and is the only            Equine Referral Hospital’s caseload. The new        veterinarians. Undergraduate students often struggle
            bespoke equine CT currently available               CT setup will enable RVC Equine to diagnose         to visualise abnormalities on radiographs, as these
            with the capability of acquiring the range          abnormalities and initiate treatment at an earlier   are 2D images of 3D structures. Having access
            of high-quality examinations needed to              stage. It will also facilitate more accurate diagnoses,   to more cases, which have radiographs and CT
            keep the RVC at the forefront of equine             increase the number and variety of treatments       examinations performed, will help the students
            diagnostic imaging.                                 available and therefore help advance veterinary     to gain a better understanding of anatomy and
            The QECT has a number of advantages over other      medicine for the benefit of horses.                 radiography and provide an invaluable learning
            models. Firstly, it has an extremely wide bore at   Supporting pioneering research                      exercise that directly translates into day-one skills.
            90cm, which will enable examination of areas of the   There are numerous avenues of clinical research   “I am looking forward to working with the new
            horse that previously could not be imaged due to    that the QECT will support, particularly studies    CT which will be a valuable addition to our state-
            the size limitations of previous models. Current CT   focusing on health of the lower limb. This cutting-  of-the art Equine Diagnostic Imaging Facilities. I
            models are limited to only allow lower limbs to be   edge technology can detect early changes in horses’   am excited about its capability to examine limbs
            imaged once the patient has been anaesthetised and   limbs (bone oedema) that might predispose them to   in standing sedated horses. Additionally, the large
            hoisted onto a specially made bed. Anaesthetising   fractures during training or competition. If research   gantry size will enable us to image more proximal
            horses can be risky and therefore lower leg scans   performed with the new equipment confirms this,     and wider areas that do not fit in smaller systems.
            which may not be perceived as life-threatening      fatal accidents could be reduced which would have   The high quality of the new system will keep
            are not routinely performed. This new CT can be     a major impact on animal welfare, decreased horse   RVC Equine at the forefront of what is possible
            lowered into the ground, so a standing horse can    fatalities and improved rider safety.               in diagnostic imaging.”
            simply extend its lower limb into the gantry. This can
            be done under sedation which is far less risky than   The dual source feature of the CT, used commonly   Freddie Dash, Staff clinician in Equine
            general anaesthesia. This will be a big improvement   in humans for detection of bone oedema-like lesions   Diagnostic Imaging
            in the management of lame or poorly performing      and to further characterise soft tissue abnormalities,
            horses and hence contribute significantly to animal   adds a new and exciting tool for investigating
            welfare. In addition, the QECT has the fastest      musculoskeletal disease in horses. This feature
            image acquisition time of any large bore CT scanner   will facilitate research into lesion development
            which will increase image quality whilst decreasing   and progression by detecting subtle but potential
            radiation exposure to the patient and staff.        important subclinical changes.



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