The College of Veterinary Medicine announced this month that it’s now offering magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI, for horses.
MU is among a handful of institutions in the Midwest with access to MREquine services, an independently owned mobile unit equipped with a high-field MRI unit sensitive enough to identify very subtle changes in bone and soft tissue, according to a news release. Doctors can see bone and soft tissue with tremendous detail.
The vehicle housing this technology cannot pull up and provide services at just any location. The MREquine unit requires a specific electrical unit and docking station, as well as veterinary staff and facilities equipped to perform all aspects of anesthesia and patient management, from induction to recovery, the news release said. In most cases, an attending veterinarian works in collaboration with the horse’s own veterinarian.