UF Veterinary Medical Center installs state-of-the-art MRI unit A front view of the new Toshiba Titan MR unit recently in- stalled at the UF Veterinary Medical Center." (Photo courtesy of Toshiba) GAINESVILLE, Fla. < system in place at the A new clinical imaging University of Florida Veterinary Medical Cen- ter will enable veterinar- ians to obtain diagnostic images of previously in- accessible and larger parts of the body, such as the upper legs of horses, veterinarians say. The new 1.5 Tesla Ti- tan MR, made by Toshi- ba, has never previously been used by any acade- mic veterinary medical center in the United States and will provide private practitioners and pet owners with a high- ly sophisticated, state-of- the-art tool for pinpoint- ing and treating disease in their animals. "There are many ad- vantages to the Titan, notably its 71-centimeter patient aperture, known as the open bore, which will be a benefit in ex- amining large animals," said Clifford "Kip" Berry, a professor of ra- diology at UF and chief of the VMC's radiology service. Magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI, is used in veterinary medicine to look inside an ani- mal's body to evaluate diseases and other prob- lems. The new MR will provide veterinarians with a more detailed anatomic picture through high-resolution imaging, and will enable them to image arterial and venous blood flow with the injection of an intravenous contrast medium, UF veterinari- ans said. Berry said the new equipment is "faster, bigger and better" than what has previously been available, and pro- vides UF with one more powerful tool to provide veterinarians and their clients with the most ad- vanced imaging ser- vices. "There is more space available inside the ma- chine to accommodate CE5^ a- patients, which should allow for better imaging of the mid- to upper ex- tremity of horses," Berry said. "The Titan also is quieter than existing MR equipment, making it less likely that acoustic noise will awaken pa- tients during diagnostic examinations." The equipment is de- signed so animals should not have to be repositioned during an MR study. Veterinary technologists also have the flexibility to load large animal patients into the equipment from the back end. The VMC's new MR unit and the 8-slice mul- tidetector row Toshiba Acquilion CT unit now available at UF are among the most power- ful imaging tools cur- rently available for vet- erinary diagnostics in the Southeast. The MR unit allows highly detailed images to be obtained in multi- ple planes of bone and soft tissue in all species. Foot, fetlock, suspensory ligaments, carpus, hock and heads are regions capable of being exam- ined through MR in the horse, while spiral CT may be used for 3-di- mensional reconstruc- tion in complex fracture repair planning of the extremity or stifle in large animals. In small animals, both modalities are routinely applied to neurologic and orthope- dic cases at the VMC, with additional studies performed for radiation planning and metastasis evaluations. "MR allows for ex- quisite distinction be- tween normal and ab- normal tissues," Berry said. "The use of special- ized sequences further increases the ability to distinguish between dif- ferent types of patholo- gy ranging from hemor- rhagic infarctions to pri- mary brain tumors and inflammatory disor- ders." Dr. Matthew Winter, assistant professor of di- agnostic imaging at UF's VMC, added that MR also reveals bone, ten- don and ligament pathology and can show bone bruising, meniscal damage and ligament tears that go undetected when using traditional radiography. "All of our radiolo- gists have strong inter- ests in cross-sectional imaging, which gives UF a unique ability to serve the advanced imaging needs of Flori- da veterinarians," Win- ter said. In addition to MR and CT, UF's VMC offers nuclear medicine, or scintigraphy, to both small and large animal patients. Teleradiology, or film reading via satel- lite, is a fee-based ser- vice UF's veterinary ra- diologists also offer to private veterinary prac- titioners who want to make use of UF's exper- tise remotely. For information about small animal imaging call 352-392-2235, ext. 4875. For small animal outpatient services, call 352-273-8585 or go to www.gatorvetimaging.c om. For information about large animal imaging, call the large animal hospital at 352- 392-2229. In-house pa- tients at the UF VMC have automatic access to all diagnostic imaging equipment when re- quested as part of a comprehensive diagnos- tic workup. PAGE 8A THE JASPER NEWS, Jasper, FL THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2009 ~e~L