Digital Radiography at Oak Tree

Just like the change from photographic film cameras to digital cameras, radiology is going that way too, though not quite so fast. We've decided it's time to upgrade.

As you will know, an x-ray used to be a black and white film and going digital allows many more shades of grey, meaning more can often be seen in the image, compared to a film x-ray.

The advantage for our client and patients include

1) No delay. As soon as the equipment is turned on, we are ready to take the radiograph. With a wet film processor, 15-20 minutes is needed for the fluids to warm up, even longer with manual processing, still seen in some veterinary practices.

2) Fewer exposures. As the software can view many more greys, a light or dark film is adjusted so we can see what we need to, whereas with a film, what you see is what you get and would need to be repeated. Often a film taken for bone is too dark for the soft tissues and a film taken for soft tissues is too white for bone. With digital you can see both, through the contrast controls.

3) On screen manipulation. The comprehensive software package that accompanies our digital processor allows us to view, measure, enlarge, invert, brighten and darken the image, meaning we can see more detail than would be visible on an old fashioned film.

4) Lower dose. We have been able to reduce the x-ray settings converting to digital. Although all x-rays involve a very very low risk, due to radiation any reduction has to be welcome.

5) A digital image can be copied to a disc or emailed, meaning we can send a copy of your pet's x-rays to a specialist anywhere in the world. There are now emerging so-called telemedicine services, meaning a difficult x-ray can be viewed, somewhere in the world, by a certified expert and a report given electronically within the hour, at a cost, of course.

6) Environmentally sensitive. We no longer need to buy films and chemicals and dispose of same, which include silver salts potentially hazardous to the environment. A saving in things and a saving in fuel for delivery and collection mean a significant reduction in carbon footprint over the long term.

What's the downside?

You could purchase and service a pretty good car for what we have invested going digital, so there is not a financial saving, at present. However I'm sure you would rather see your money being invested in your pet's care, enabling a better quality service to be provided, rather than spent, continuously, on consumables, to throw away.

Some Examples

Bladder stones

There were more than 60 stones in the bladder of this  dog. They were removed surgically.

The horizontal row of whitish blobs is in fact faeces and is normal for a dog fed on raw chicken!

Here are the stones

Dog Thorax

This is the sort of detail achievable with digital

Rabbit Skull

Note the long incisor (front) teeth, the big gap and then the molars and how long the roots are. All of these teeth grow continuoulsy through the rabbit's life. The gap between the teeth is called a diastema

Pregnant cat with a kitten

If you look carefully in the abdomen, you can see the skeleton of an unborn kitten.

Cat's jaw showing a bone infection

This picture of an elderly cat, with many of the teeth missing, shows a big swelling on the chin  both in the bone and soft tissues overlying. Although consistent with a tumour, this animal fortunately had a bad infection which responded very well to a long course of antibiotics. The diagnosis was made by taking a biopsy (a sample) of the bone using a special circular scalpel.

Follow up x-ray for a TTO

This is the outcome following a Triple Tibial Osteotomy procedure for cruciate ligament rupture. The metal plate shows bright white and the screws can be seen going into the bone. The procedure is discussed in the cruciate page (click link) and the patient has done extremely well.