Digital infrared thermal imaging assessments of body temperature in the equine eye, muzzle, and coronary band

Cameron Volpe, Mississippi State University

Abstract, Winner

Cameron Volpe, Susan Bowers, Lauren Hodges and Scott Willard, Mississippi State University Colleges of Veterinary Medicine and Agriculture and Life Sciences, Starkville, MS

Measuring vital signs such as body temperature in an efficient manner is crucial to monitoring the health of both humans and animals. Digital infrared thermal imaging (DITI) is a fast non-invasive method of measuring body surface temperature gradients by converting a heat signature of an object into a color picture. DITI is also efficient at detecting asymmetry in thermal gradients, as is seen in areas of inflammation. This study utilized a DITI camera manufactured by Flir to evaluate the temperatures of the equine eye, muzzle, and coronary band and investigated their correlation with internal body temperature. The coronary band was selected because of its importance to hoof health and the numerous diseases associated with the equine hoof. Mares and foals (n=45) were imaged in a covered barn at a distance of one meter to determine any correlation between DITI temperatures and rectal temperatures (RT) measured with a digital thermometer. DITI temperatures were compared to RT using Pearson correlation coefficients, regression analysis, and paired/unpaired comparisons where appropriate (StatView).  RT was positively correlated with eye DITI (0.44 to 0.48; P< 0.001) and muzzle DITI (0.393 to 0.436; P<0.001) at a moderate level. Front and rear coronary DITI differed (P<0.02) by 0.27 to 0.29°C and were positively correlated with RT at a moderate level (0.289 to 0.367; P<0.0074). In conclusion, DITI measures were positively correlated, albeit at a moderate level, with RT. Additional research is needed to determine if this is sufficient as a non-invasive measure of body temperature in the equine species. In the future, DITI may become a useful diagnostic tool for measuring body temperature and detecting areas of inflammation and lameness in the equine species.Healthy mare, image taken at distance of 1 meter, focusing on the eye and muzzle.

The source of student financial support was the NIH Summer Research Experience for Veterinary Students, grant number 5T35OD010432

This study was funded by the USDA-ARS-funded Biophotonics Initiative for study support.

Potential applications-Pictured here are a the forelimbs of a mare with an old hoof abscess on her right hoof. The picture indicates that the area of the abscess is cooler in temperature than the surrounding hoof wall, due to decreased perfusion of that area.Potential applications-Pictured here are the hindlimbs of a mare with known lameness in her left hoof. The picture indicates that the left hoof is higher in temperature than the right hoof, indicating ongoing inflammation.

“E.O.D.”

Entry, Foot in Mouth
Kate Schraeder, Mississippi State University

ADR

NPO

TNT

EAG

PUPD

BID

SID

For those of us who have spent time in the field of veterinary medicine, this type of language is second nature.  How convenient it is to be able to describe patients with symptoms ranging from lethargy to decreased appetite to being in a foul mood as “ADR”- “ain’t doin’ right”.

 Now, try to remember back to when you first started working at a vet clinic. 

As a 16 year old kid with no medical background besides the religious watching of Grey’s Anatomy, I was pretty sure the general gist of acronyms in medicine was to shorten all vitally important medical directions so the new technician has to take 15 minutes first trying to decipher your hand writing and then Googling what, exactly, “give 1 pill PO BID x 3d, then SID x 3 d, then EOD x3 doses” means.

Eventually, however, I got the hang of it.  I even forgot how frustrating I once found the use of these acronyms. 

Fast forward a few years:  I had grown pretty confident in my work.  I knew the ropes, and they had even trusted me to train the new guy!  As is customary, within the first month of his employment as a kennel tech, Dan decided to adopt one of the abandoned puppies that routinely found a way to our clinic.  Dan was excited about taking her home, but also a little nervous.  He had never had a pet before and, being an 18 year old college boy, didn’t know for sure how to take care of another living creature.  But it was love at first sight when he saw Edna, a little Mississippi yard dog (you know the ones I’m talking about: brown, medium-sized bulldog/hound mix).  Besides having a belly full of worms and a minor skin rash, she was in good health, and her big droopy puppy dog eyes and lop-sided ears had everyone fawning over her.  I assured him that everything would be fine; I had written everything down for him.  De-wormer and an antihistamine: he could handle that, right?

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Entry, Creative Corner
Kate Schraeder, Mississippi State University

Study Buddy

Blowing Kisses

Cage diving with great white sharks, Cape Town, South Africa

Entry, Creative Corner
Emily Pearce, Mississippi State University

Elephants holding up traffic (Kruger National Park, South Africa)

In My Huntsman’s Forgotten Left Pocket

Entry, Creative Corner
Blair Snively, Mississippi State University

It is so bitter even the sun

can’t melt the frost on the sod fields or flats

of ice in the depressions below the frozen

hills. I long for a taste of tawny port to burn

the chilled air from my lungs.

Reynard is here.

I know he is, because I can hear him

laughing. Laughing at those silly hounds

who work the line of four buck deer instead

of the scent woven by his musky red tail.

Blaze, taut under my oiled saddle, awaits my cue

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