Initial Experiences with MR/ultrasound Fusion Techniques

Over the past several decades the diagnostic capabilities and treatments of musculoskeletal injuries have rapidly advanced. Imaging technologies developed and produced for human medicine are now readily available, applicable and in widespread use in veterinary medicine. Digital radiography and digital ultrasound systems are routinely utilised by many mobile equine practitioners and have dramatically improved the diagnostic value of these examinations by providing superior images within seconds. Advanced imaging techniques, such as digital fluoroscopy, nuclear scintigraphy, computed tomography (CT), and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), are now routinely used in horses at diagnostic imaging and surgical referral centres. Radiography and ultrasound (US) when used together are great screening tools and provide complementary information about the bone and soft tissues of an area, respectively. However, when these imaging tools provide equivocal information about a region advanced modalities such as CT and magnetic resonance (MR) are indicated which require general anaesthesia to position the limb of the horse within the gantry. Because general anaesthesia carries an increased risk of injury when the horse recovers, the clinician must be willing to accept the risk of anaesthesia in order to gain a more accurate diagnosis. [...]