Published: 12 Mar 2020 | Last Updated: 12 Mar 2020 13:48:52

Funding of £630,000 CT scanner in 2018 is transforming patient care at the RVC Small Animal Referrals Hospital.

Thanks to your support, the Royal Veterinary College (RVC) is harnessing the power of the most advanced veterinary CT scanner in Europe. In situ since 2018, the CT scanner is transforming patient care at the RVC Small Animal Referrals Hospital.

Previously, scanned images appeared very slowly, slice-by-slice. The improved CT scanner is able to perform high resolution scans much faster. This means that more animals can be scanned awake without the images being spoiled by motion blur, more patients can be scanned in a day, and radiologists are able to review the images immediately after the scan is completed.

Increased efficiency of CT scanning

• 10 versus 42 seconds to complete a body scan
• 80 versus 6.5 images reconstructed per second
• More patients scanned in a day
• More patients scanned conscious/sedated
• Reduced time under sedation or anaesthetic
• 16 to 320 slices!

Localised organs
The CT scanner can scan small sections of a patient for conditions localised to a single organ. This is useful for examining congenital anomalies, such as holes in the heart, and the coronary arteries. A moving image of the beating heart can even be produced and used to calculate cardiac output.

Orthopaedic cases
The advanced scanner has a feature that overcomes the problem of interference by metal plates and screws, which can ruin conventional CT images. In the new scans, vets can see details of the bone around the screws and monitor more accurately the healing process.

Radiography Intravenous Urograms (IVU)
With the new scanner, it is possible to move away from Radiography Intravenous Urograms (IVU) to performing CT IVU's. This is because the new scanner can produce a dynamic scan (essentially a movie clip) of urine flow through the kidneys and down the urinary tract to the bladder.

Thank you!
Funding this advanced veterinary CT scanner would not have been possible without your support. The scanner's advanced functionality and decreased imaging time is enabling our vets to diagnose more animals, more quickly, and get them started on the life-saving treatment they need as soon as possible.

Thanks to your help we are able to improve the treatment and care of animals through clinical practice, education and research. Please donate to our ongoing work and make a difference to the thousands of pets and animals cared for each year.