Clinical

ESAOTE ANNOUNCES KEY ACHIEVEMENTS FOR VETERINARY MRI IN EUROPE AND USA: CUSTOMERS FIND O-SCAN EQUINE EXCELS IN TERMS OF ‘RETURN ON INVESTMENT’

vetreportNovember 21, 2014

Esaote, the world’s number one leader in veterinary MRI and ultrasound imaging, announces that installations of its self-shielding O-scan Equine MRI units at two major veterinary centres in the USA and Denmark have resulted in resounding success. Testifying to the O-scan’s high performance in terms of image quality, speed, and return on investment. Cor van der Flier, Esaote’s Veterinary Business Director explains, “We have received outstanding feedback from two of our customers in very different areas of the globe who invested in the O-scan to offer a significant point of difference from their competitors. Both have seen a substantial return on their investment as a result.” 

The co-owner of one of Denmark’s largest veterinary clinics, Henrik Sten Andersen, explains, “We have been using the O-scan Equine for two years here at Hørsholm Hestepraksis, and have performed several hundred scans with it. It is particularly useful for soft tissue diagnosis, including imaging within the hoof capsule such as the deep flexor tendon, the impar ligament and collateral ligaments of the coffin joint. The images are excellent for diagnosis where ultrasound or X-Ray won’t help as much. As well as being confident in our own diagnosis, the O-scan means we build trust with the horse owner: We can show them the scan so they see the pathology for themselves, meaning they’re confident for us to treat or to leave the horse to recover, rather than calling us back a few weeks later, looking for an alternative diagnosis.”

Dr Monty McIntruff is the managing owner of the Tennessee Equine Hospital in Nashville. In his words, “This past week, we carried out four MRIs with our O-scan, and we have maintained strong usage since our installation. The O-scan is particularly good for identifying articular cartilage pathology, bone edema, and soft tissue injury, which some low field magnets can’t cope with. The images are beautiful, and once the radiographer’s report is back in 24 hours, we can provide precise treatment, without any ‘wasted time’; once we know the extent of injury, we can prescribe focused therapy. In practical terms, the O-scan is great in that it doesn’t require a lot of space or three-phase power (just 1:10 power, which is easier to come by). All in all, it’s been greatly accepted by our customers. When their horse is injured we can rapidly diagnose and treat to eliminate wasted time off from competition.”

The O-scan Equine

The O-scan can clearly distinguish between lesions in bone, ligaments or tendons of the foot, pastern, fetlock and carpus thanks to the O-scan’s excellent contrast resolution and image quality. Its new eXP software and hardware platform enables performance that is comparable to that of 1.5 Tesla systems. The O-scan is fast and simple to use thanks to its ‘position.