We've just had out new ultrasound machine delivered and we're very pleased with it. We had an older machine, which was top of the range when we got it ten years ago, but obviously technology has moved on since then and we felt that we should do so too.
Whilst the images on the old machine were ok, we wanted something better - picture the difference between a old black and white television and a high definition, flatscreen tv.
We were particularly interested in getting better pictures of dog and cats' abdomens. With an ultrasound machine we can look at all sorts of organs in a conscious animal, avoiding the need for anaesthetics. Of course we can look for pregnancies and the reproductive tract in both males and females, but we can study other organs including their liver, kidneys, spleen, intestines and
bladder.Because the new machine also has a Doppler function, we can look a blood flow within blood vessels and the heart. This will allow us to investigate a whole range of heart and other conditions. We can watch the blood flow in different directions, as with this picture of jugular blood vessels.
We can also measure across the heart to see if the chambers are narrowed or the heart wall is thickened.
We're looking forward to using the new machine to help treat dogs and cats. I think it looks a bit like Wall-E, the robot in Pixar's new film; I'm hoping it's not smart enough to develop a life of its own, whilst we're out.
