Equine thermography

[sparkey]

Have any of you used this or know anyone who has? I'd be interested to hear about experiences with it.

[BEX101]

I know a horse that had great results after several years of back problems and various specialists coming out and fixing him, for him just to go back to how he was.

The thermal imaging showed so much more than what was evident even to the experts, and as each round of treatment was done the thermal imaging was used to track how successful it was and treatment was altered depending on the image results.
Afterwards the horse was 100% in his back for several years but unfortunately was hit by a car and PTS.

[IrishGreenSheep]

Did you see this on Done Deal by any chance? I was looking at it just a minute ago

[sparkey]

ha ha! Caught in the act igs - donedeal is one of my fave study-avoidance tactics! I thought it might be good to go and spend a day with this guy when I'm home in Jan.

Beks, that's interesting. It's such a simple concept, I don't see why everyone with an undiagnosed problem wouldn't go for it. Cost I suppose.

[casper_cb]

We used the technique on Basil when we were trying to find his mystery lameness. It did show heat in his off hind hoof in the region where the problem was located over a year later. It was dismissed at the time though as heat in the hoof, in fact any known veterinary fault in the hind hoof structure should not have resulted in the lameness Basil was showing. (Basil is a veterinary 1st!) He had a series of images taken at rest in a darkened stable, then straight after exercise, then after 40 minutes rest. The images really did show the exchange of heat within his muscular structure, hot points, evenness of heat transfer and specific areas that could indicate a problem. He showed unevenness over his back an down his hind legs, moreso his near hind. The heat differences here were so much more than the tiny area in the hoof the hoof was completely dismissed. The images were sent to our vets and a specialist vet in America. I have the images too and detailed report but both hotmail and photobucket have crashed and the old forum on here has been deleted so can't get them up.
It was fascinating, very worthwhile and not overly expensive.
It is very down to how the images are interpreted. Now we know what Basil's problem is the heat images make so much sense. His near hind showed more heat and tension over his back as he was protecting his off hind. His front limbs and kneck were tight as he was transferring weight forwards and holding himself awkwardly. It was assumed by every specialist the problem was pelvis, possibly stifle area. Not a 2mm section of the medial collateral ligament within the off hind hoof only diagnosable through MRI never before seen to result in the lameness pattern shown by Basil or in fact an injury every documented to have occurred in a horse.

Prior to thermography he had a scintigraphy (Basil was made radio active and had full body images taken) it showed nothing, x- rays all showed nothing, scans showed nothing, nerve blocks were hit and miss. So though the thermography was not spot on with diagnosis it did highlight the actual problem, it was human error that over looked it. Still what freaks me out is Ann Dee the horse whisperer who "told Basil" down the phone to show me where it hurts by pointing it out to me and Basil came over to me and started banging with his nose my right ankle / foot area!

Sorry, lots of waffle there. It was fascinating. If Photobucket decides to behave I'll post some of the images. Even if not helpful they're very pretty! :P

[sparkey]

Thanks a million for that Cas. Sounds like it'd be well worth it to spend a day or so looking at how it's done and the resultant diagnoses.

[BEX101]

Originally Posted by sparkey

It's such a simple concept, I don't see why everyone with an undiagnosed problem wouldn't go for it. Cost I suppose.

Earlier on in the year i heard a talk by a gentleman in Yorkshire that was offering a mobile service. Some Competition and racing yards are now imaging on a regular basis to detect problems before they are even apparent.
If there's a few on the yard that want it doing he was doing it for as little as £30 a horse (though i think the cost for just 1 was more like £50/60)

Where we went was £200 a session, but that included the imaging session, and treatment at a specialist equine hospital.
Thinking of it...... we also took an ex racer up on one of the visits to just have a "look" and it cost £50 including the vet telling us what the images showed.

[sparkey]

Wow 30 is cheap! Thanks for the info bex.