MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging)

MRI can provide excellent detail of both soft and bony tissues. Because MRI distinguishes water from fat, it can highlight areas of pathology such as inflammation and bruising in a way that radiography, CT, ultrasound, and nuclear scintigraphy cannot. MRI images the region of interest in slices oriented in any 3D plane. This allows an area of interest to be visualized without superimposition of adjacent structures, with multiple views to truly appreciate its full extent.
 

When is MRI Useful?

Following a lameness exam that localizes the lameness to a specific region of the limb, your veterinarian may recommend an sMRI (standing MRI) for your horse. sMRI is highly valuable in many lameness cases and can give us a clearer picture of the diagnosis and prognosis. We can then create an appropriate treatment plan to ensure a safe and timely return to work for your horse.

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Particularly useful in navicular cases, MRI is the only modality able to distinguish between the multiple different causes of navicular disease or heel pain. Historically, navicular disease was diagnosed when abnormal changes to the navicular bone were seen on x-ray. With the wealth of additional information MRI gives us about the bones and soft tissues within the hoof capsule, we now know navicular disease or syndrome can cause foot pain due to a number of different problems. Structures such as the impar ligament and the insertion of the deep digital flexor tendon are extremely difficult, even impossible to assess without MRI. Understanding how damage to these structures can contribute to foot pain has enabled vets to direct treatment more specifically and, therefore, more effectively in these cases.

If you have not done so already, we will remove your horse’s shoes from the limb to be imaged, as well as from the adjacent leg. Your horse will be mildly sedated during imaging procedures. Before scanning, we will use x-ray to check to be sure there are no metal fragments remaining, as these may interfere with the MRI imaging process.

Your horse is then walked into the MRI scanner, and the lame leg placed between the poles of the magnet. A radio-frequency coil is fitted around the injury site and the operator makes careful adjustments to ensure that both horse and magnet are in the right place. Radio-frequency waves are used to assess changes in the position of hydrogen atoms within the body tissues when minor adjustments are made within a strong magnetic field. These changes are interpreted and used to create the images. The magnetic field or the radio-frequency waves are not harmful to your horse or people. MRI is an extremely safe diagnostic imaging modality.

MRI uses a magnetic field and a radio-frequency pulse enabling exceptional detail of soft tissue structures including tendons, ligaments, synovial structures, and cartilage. MRI scans also show lesions in bone and bone edema that typically cannot be identified on radiographs.

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Our Hallmarq Standing Equine MRI (sMRI) system is a state-of-the-art diagnostic tool specifically designed to help us deliver a safe, effective, and affordable diagnosis for your horse. sMRI can capture images from a standing, sedated horse, facilitating foot, fetlock, and even suspensory ligament studies. Because sMRI does not require general anesthesia, it is an exceptionally safe procedure providing valuable information that cannot be obtained via other modalities.

sMRI scans are performed at our Salinas facility and can be arranged on an outpatient basis.