Pacific Crest Equine offers multiple state-of-the-art imaging capabilities. We have a reputation for exceptional equipment and experience in this area and see a high caseload of performance horses and equine athletes that seek our facility for accurate diagnostics.
Radiography: Pacific Crest has both in-house and portable (completely wireless) digital radiograph (x-ray) machines to aid in the diagnosis and monitoring of different musculoskeletal conditions.
Ultrasonography: Our hospital is equipped with a state of the art ultrasound with superior image quality and detail, which allows us to evaluate tendons and ligaments with the utmost precision and accuracy. Small ligament tears and suspensory ligament injuries can be diagnosed much quicker than with conventional machine. We can also scan abdomens, perform cardiac evaluations, and diagnose pelvic and back muscle pathology with this system. Images are recorded and stored via computer and therefore can be cataloged and viewed sequentially for each patient. However, one of the best features of this machine is its capability for quantitative analysis for tendon measuring. Software can analyze the images produced from scans to produce and injury score. This enables us to give the horse a more accurate diagnosis, prognosis for return to work, and individualized treatment plan.
Videoendoscopy: Pacific Crest Equine has both one- and three-meter videoendoscopes available for viewing and evaluating the equine upper airway, the esophagus, the stomach, and many components of the reproductive tract and bladder. A videoendoscope provides a higher quality image than the older technology of the fiberoptic endoscope. In addition, both still photographs and video images can be captured and recorded for future review.
Thermography: Our FLIR thermography system is available to scan horses experiencing a variety of problems such as lameness or back soreness, poor saddle fit, and shoeing and hoof balance problems. This technology can be used to scan horses for areas of increased heat and inflammation, or decreased temperature from pathology and disuse. Thermography can be used to locate soft tissue injuries often before they can be seen on physical examinations or ones that cannot be seen on radiographs.