Diagnostic Imaging

What is Veterinary Diagnostic Imaging?
Veterinary diagnostic imaging includes radiographs (x-rays), ultrasound, MRIs and CT scans, all of which are used as diagnostic tools to collect information on your dog's health. The vast majority of imaging is non-invasive and completely painless. However, some imaging may require sedation or even anesthesia because the dog must be kept still to allow for adequate images to be produced. Veterinarians use these images to collect information on your dog to help them to make a medical and sometimes surgical plan.

When Is Veterinary Diagnostic Imaging Necessary?
After your veterinarian has examined your dog, he or she may want to begin to collect more information that will lead to a diagnosis and then, a treatment plan. X-rays are usually a first line of imaging. The x-ray may lead to a diagnosis which allows them to move forward with a plan. However, sometimes the next step may be ultrasound to get a more thorough or specific look at a particular area of the body.

For instance, if your dog is vomiting and feeling ill, you veterinarian may take an x-ray to look for possible causes such as obstruction of intestines or an obvious foreign body. The x-ray may show some signs of an intestinal obstruction, however, before proceeding to surgery, it would be prudent in some cases to follow with an abdominal ultrasound. The ultrasound will give more detail of the questionable area and therefore allow more confidence of the treatment plan to move forward with surgery. Occasionally, x-rays and ultrasound allow for a definitive diagnosis but other times they will simply add more information to help put the puzzle together for the best treatment plan for your dog.

The four types of Veterinary Diagnostic Imaging our veterinarians may utilize to assist in diagnosis of your dog's condition are:

• X-Rays
• MRIs
• Ultrasounds
• CT Scans

More information on each of these types of radiographs is provided below.

Dog X-Rays
Dog x-rays have been in use throughout the medical community for many decades. Dog x-rays are by far the most regularly used form of diagnostic imaging in the veterinary industry because they are cost effective (comparatively speaking), and they can accurately diagnose the state of skeletal structure and composition, large body cavities, and the presence of many foreign objects. Dog x-rays are totally painless, but some dogs can benefit from sedation to reduce anxiety and stress.

Dog x-rays usually proceed as follows:

• The dog is placed on the x-ray table
• A technician positions the x-ray machine so that the x-ray beam targets only the area of interest
• Modern x-ray equipment allow for low levels of radiation and when used only occasionally are perfectly safe for your dog
• Because dog x-rays are static images, the procedure usually requires less time than a procedure like an MRI
• Dog x-rays have traditionally been captured on actual film, and still can be when necessary. However, our x-ray images are now digital which allows us to capture the images on a secure server that our veterinarians can access at any time, and can also share with specialists, if necessary.

Dog Ultrasounds
A dog ultrasound is the second most common type of diagnostic imaging tool veterinarians use to diagnose a dog's medical condition. Ultrasounds use sound waves to examine and photograph internal tissues in real time. An ultrasound allows a veterinarian to see into a dog's body in real time, allowing for easy viewing of organs from different angles that are not easily achieved through x-rays. The functioning of various organs and blood flow can be observed to determine if they are malfunctioning.

A dog ultrasound procedure usually proceeds as follows:

• A dog ultrasound technician gently presses a small probe against the dog's body that emits digital sound waves
• The sound waves are directed to various parts of the dog's abdominal area by manually shifting the probe's position
• The sound beam changes velocity while passing through varying body tissue density, which causes echoes
• Our ultrasound equipment converts these echoes into electrical impulses that are then further transformed into a digital image that represents the appearance of the tissues

These images can be viewed in real time by a veterinarian, as well as stored for further review at any time
In modern scanning systems, the sound beam sweeps through the body many times per second. This produces a dynamic, real-time image that changes as the dog ultrasound device moves across a dog's body. Veterinarian can use the results of an ultrasound to determine what is ailing your dog, and to devise the most effective treatment protocol.

Common symptoms that may cause a veterinary to use ultrasound include: vomiting, weight loss, kidney impairment or blockage and heart disease.