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Infrared Thermography (IRT)
is a completely non-invasive diagnostic tool. Unlike x-rays and ultrasound, IRT
does not result from the infrared camera emitting any type of waves, rays, radiation,
or any other form of energy. Instead, IRT is the result of the infrared camera
capturing infrared-length light waves (invisible heat) that are emitted by all
animate and inanimate objects.
A horse's body creates heat so it can survive.
The infrared heat that a horse emits from its body can be "viewed" via
an infrared camera. Heat fluctuates throughout the horse's body depending on blood
flow. Blood flow can be either increased or decreased, both indications of health
problems.
| Hot
Spots |
Cold Spots |
"Hot" Tendon |
"Hot" Tendon |
"Cool" Tendon |
A "Hot Spot" indicates
inflammation or increased circulation. "Hot Spots" generally are seen
in the skin directly overlying the injury. The skin derives its heat from local
circulation and tissue metabolism. A "Cold Spot" is a reduction in blood
to an area, usually due to swelling, thrombosis, or scar tissue.
| Underlying soft tissue and
bone injuries raise the temperature of the surrounding tissues and skin. The
body's recognition of injury and a subsequent increase or decrease in blood flow
can happen even before the animal shows signs of pain or lameness. |
Treating Lameness
Recent advances in infrared imaging
allow us to use this technology to assist in lameness cases. The equipment measures
minute changes in temperature at the skin's surface and reports this information
as a color-encoded photograph. These increases in temperature are often readily
detectable by direct palpation. However, smaller changes in temperature are not.
Thermography can detect temperature differences less than one half of a degree.
Thermography is a qualitative assessment of
temperatures. In other words, the camera can be set to detect differences in temperatures
and show those differences as colors. The heat patterns that can be seen show
a trained thermographer or practitioner how the blood flow is normal or abnormal
in a particular horse.
| Uses
of Thermography |
| At the 1996 Olympic
Games in Atlanta, the most requested diagnostic tool for equestrian teams was
thermography. It was fast. It was portable. It was non-invasive. It could detect
injury sites before they became lameness issues. It could guide practitioners
to specific anatomical areas needing further study using other diagnostic tools
(x-ray, ultrasound). Equine Thermography is a sifting device. You document the
physiologic changes you see with thermography and combine that information with
the anatomical change.
Other uses include ...
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Detecting
Early Laminitis
Detecting Muscle Atrophy
Detecting Muscle Strains
Detecting Nerve Injuries
Diagnosing Capsulitis/Synovitis in joints
Hoof Balance
Palmar Heel Pain
Pre/Post Race Examinations
Pre-Purchase Examinations
Saddle Fitting
Subsolar/Submural Abscesses
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Viewing Muscle Injuries
Tendonitis & following a tendon heal after injury.
Assessing vasculature and blood flow to tissues before & after exercise.
As a training aid to avoid injury (detecting hot shin before they buck).
Track Design or Footing (based on hoof heat of horses performing over the
surface).
|
Normal Sideview |
Abnormal Sideview |
Bad Back |
Normal Saddle Fit |
Bad Saddle Fit
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