Dakota Large Animal Clinic

Harrisburg, South Dakota

Excellence in Veterinary Medicine and Surgery since 1981!

DIGITAL RADIOLOGY

Normal Horse Stifle Lat

    Vast technological advances have been made in medical imaging in the last decade.  The marriage of computer technology to imaging has created a unique opportunity.  Just like your ability to throw away the old Polaroid camera and rely on your cell phone to capture a special memory, we are now able to throw away our old x-ray cassettes and films (not that we’ll do that completely) and obtain medical grade x-ray images in the blink of an eye.  And just as you can share your personal pictures with people around the world at the push of the old email send button, we’ve shared x-rays with a veterinarian in Kentucky only moments after they were taken.

    So, even with all of the “Gee-whiz, that machine is amazing!” these questions remain.  Is it really that valuable of a diagnostic tool and is it worth the added cost?

    There are two types of digital x-ray systems.  The original digital systems that hit the market place were called computed radiology or CR systems.  They were very similar to standard x-ray setups in that you still exposed a special film and ran it through a processor that read the image and transferred it into a computer.  The high grade human medical systems actually acquired the image on a special aluminum film that was not reusable.  Later systems have developed special plastic films that are reusable.  The main advantage for this type of system was the direct transfer of the image into a computer for storage and viewing.  The actual resolution of the images acquired in these systems is very similar to the resolution of the old style of x-ray film.

    The second type of digital x-ray system developed is called the direct radiology system or DR.  The advantage of this type of system is that the image is obtained on a special (and expensive, and breakable) receptor plate and immediately stored and viewed on a computer.  Gone are the days of processing films, and gone are the days of having to run back out to the barn to retake an x-ray that didn’t come out right.  In addition, DR systems increase image resolution in the order of 3-4 times greater than the old standard film.  Now we can see many of the tiniest hairline fractures days or even weeks before they would be evident on standard films.

    We have an Eklin Mark III direct digital x-ray machine that has allowed us to take advantage of the latest in available imaging technology.  The advantages this system offers us and our clients include:

Large animal services offered

    We can image all joints and structures of all legs, skull, teeth, neck, and chest on all horses.  Additionally, we can obtain images of the spine and pelvis of small and some medium sized horses.

Small animal services offered

    We can image all joints and structures of the body.  Digital x-ray even produces high quality images of the soft tissues of a small animal’s chest and abdomen.

Send mail to dlacsd@midconetwork.com with questions or comments about this web site.
Last modified: 05/06/10