Page 14 - Eclipse - Autumn 2015

General news
Lameness Trainer
In order to assist those who want
to learn how to examine a horse for lameness and improve their sensitivity to subtle movement changes, Dr Sandra Starke, Gregory Miles and Professor Stephen May have created an online game that teaches anyone, the art
of lameness assessment in horses. Funded by the Eranda Foundation via the RVC Animal Care Trust, the game is free and available to anyone with a PC/ laptop and internet connection.
Lameness is the most common
reason for horses to be admitted to a veterinarian. A vet typically determines lameness by observing vertical head and pelvis movement during trot: if
the up and down movement shows asymmetry between the two steps of one stride, the horse is lame. However, while pronounced lameness is pretty straight forward to pinpoint, research has shown that milder lameness is in fact very dif cult to gure out. Even expert vets often disagree on whether a horse is lame or not and which limb is affected, and less experienced individuals prove even less reliable.
In several of Sandra’s PhD studies many students at graduation level, who had undergone conventional classroom and rotation based teaching in lameness evaluation, did not show satisfactory skills when evaluating videos of lame horses.
The game now aims to ll the gap between theory and work experience, allowing anyone to progressively develop an eye for movement asymmetry and to systematically re ne and improve skills. It is
based on computer animations of horses that show various lameness severities: the animations are
driven by motion capture data of real horses; movement adaptations during lameness are then based on systematic changes in head and pelvis movement derived from many biomechanical studies.
This gave Sandra the ability to tightly control the amount of movement asymmetry in a horse, ranging from 70% to 10%. The game is then completely adaptive to the skill level of the individual learner and gives feedback on each evaluation. There is a multitude of modules through which one can progress: a novice
or rusty practitioner can start with the basics of forelimb lameness assessment. More experienced people can challenge themselves with the detection of changes in
lameness or discrimination of different movement patterns. At present the rst four modules covering fore and hind limb lameness as well as an unlimited lameness workout are available online with many more modules to follow shortly.
The team thoroughly tested and amended the game on various occasions such as the RVC Open Day and as part of the RVC BVetMed curriculum. The feedback from visitors, students and lameness experts has been extremely positive and encouraging. Results from multiple evaluation sessions suggest that this interactive and progressive method of learning allows anyone to pick up expert-level skills within days or weeks, and the skills learned in the game should transfer directly into practice. Have a look and try it for yourself! The game can be found at lamenesstrainer.com.
Next Night at the Vet College: Grown Up Animals
Wednesday 11th November 5.30 - 10.00 pm
Visit RVC’s Camden Campus for our popular free ‘Evening Lates’ event. This time we’re nding out more about the science of animal ageing. As well as seeing the ever popular dissection, we’ll have our partner organisations with a range of activities about how cells, tissues and organs change throughout life. You can also meet researchers who are looking at growth to learn more about curing diseases, and we’ll nish with the traditional pub quiz so bring friends along for an interesting and different evening!
We would like to welcome Alumni and their guests, and if you would like to be involved in the event, please get in touch. To book free tickets contact gsim@rvc.ac.uk or search ‘RVC’ on Eventbrite.com. Capacity is limited so early booking is advised.