Thermography is becoming increasingly popular as an aid to assist with the diagnosis of musculoskeletal and neurological injuries in horses, particularly non-specific lameness. As thermography is completely non-invasive it allows the horse to be examined without being touched, thus causing no stress or discomfort to the animal. The latest generation of thermal cameras are small and hand held, enabling the examination of the horse to take place in its own environment eliminating the need for costly transportation to a veterinary clinic.

CLICK ON AN IMAGE TO ENLARGE

There are three main areas in veterinary medicine where thermography can play a major part:

Preventative Medicine - particularly effective for competition animals in detecting strains or areas of abnormal heat after an event.

Diagnosis - assisting the veterinary surgeon by quickly and easily locating the source of a problem.Treatment - a visual method of monitoring the effectiveness of treatment allowing changes to be made as a case progresses.
One of the benefits of thermal imaging is the speed with which an entire examination of the horse can be carried out.

It is very often the case that a symptom that shows up as pain in the back for example actually has its root cause

somewhere else for instance the foot. The horse will very often compensate for the injury by transferring its weight to the other leg,

causing twisting and undue stress along the spine. Traditional methods of diagnosis would be to treat the back,

give physiotherapy treatment or rest the horse. By doing a scan of the entire body, areas that are showing abnormalities

in temperature can be easily identified and the relevant areas of the horse given suitable treatment.

This often alleviates the secondary symptoms. Research based on thermography findings will also allow

further understanding on problems in the feet caused by laminitis which has profound effects on the blood flow to the foot.

Clinical evaluations have shown proven results.

Here are just a few examples of how equine thermography can identify

clinical problems early on before, serious complications occur.
The image on the left shows normal tendons, bilaterally symmetrical with elliptical isothermic zones. The slide on the right shows acute tendonitis

with the hot spot occurring over the injury. Equine thermography can detect the effected area up to 2 weeks

before the evidence of swelling and pain are detected over the tendon.
 

Identify problems BEFORE they become serious complications or injuries.

Colin Duncan Equine Surgery

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