Technology's advantages include precision, versatility and non-invasiveness
BY KAREN GALLANT, OVC
Small-animal surgeon Prof. Brigitte Brisson, right, and D.V.Sc. candidate Alexandra Squires will use OVC's new MRI facility to investigate the technology's usefulness in diagnosing intervertebral disc disease, which affects small-breed dogs such as Chance the beagle. Photo by Grant Martin
The Ontario Veterinary College's new magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) facility looks identical to one you might see in a human hospital — and it is, but this one serves a four-legged clientele. After more than 10 years of fundraising and planning, the college has officially opened its MRI facility, one of just a handful worldwide where large and small animals can undergo MRI.
Sonny, a five-year old Doberman pinscher, was one of the first animals to receive an MRI at OVC. Sonny has Wobbler syndrome, a neurological disease that results in partial paralysis of the limbs and difficulty walking. Sonny's owner, Reggi Prior, says she finds it comforting that her dog can have his MRI at OVC, where he's already had several appointments because of his condition. (Before the MRI facility was available, about two animals a week were referred to the Lawson Research Institute affiliated with the University of Western Ontario for MRI.)
“This is a familiar and comfortable environment for him,” says Prior of OVC's Small-Animal Clinic. “He's been won over by the many cookies he's eaten here in the past. He feels at home here, and everyone he meets knows and loves animals and is sensitive to the feelings of the owners as well as the pets.”
Prof. Howard Dobson, a radiologist in the Department of Clinical Studies, says the new MRI facility will enhance the Veterinary Teaching Hospital's services. At peak capacity, the hospital could perform six MRIs a day, with each patient requiring one to two hours for imaging.
“This will make a huge difference in our ability to diagnose and treat cases,” says Dobson.
OVC will use MRI in applied research and clinical diagnosis of illnesses as varied as epilepsy, cancer, arthritis and visual impairments. Dobson notes that MRI is much different from other diagnostic technologies because it picks up on very subtle changes in specific areas of the body. For example, bone bruises can be the cause of poor performance in race horses but are not normally detected through radiographs or bone scans. MRI, however, boasts the ability to detect even this subtle change within the bone.
It's this level of precision that also makes MRI a valuable research tool.
“Its potential is limitless,” says Dobson. “The advantage of MRI is that its cross-sectional resolution results in better anatomical images.”
Another benefit of MRI is its versatility. In addition to anatomical imaging, the equipment can produce pathological images, allowing clinicians to identify healthy and diseased tissue, and can permit perfusional studies quantifying the amount of blood flow in a lesion.
“The information from MRI can be very specific, such as the exact measures of a tumour's size and how blood flows to the site,” Dobson says.
On top of all these advantages, MRI is non-invasive and painless and involves no radiation exposure.
In many cases, clinical and research work will be intertwined, says Dobson. The majority of clinical cases (with permission from pet owners) will also be part of studies, allowing researchers to learn more about illnesses such as cancer and spinal cord disease by examining MRI images from animal patients. Many of these studies will be applicable to both human and animal health.
The $5-million MRI facility was supported by OVC's Pet Trust Fund and through monies provided by the Canada Foundation for Innovation and the Ontario Innovation Trust for a new Institute for Animal-Human Links in Health Science Research.
