10/20/95
By Sam Hendrix, 334/844-3698
ULTRASOUND NOT JUST FOR BABIES ANY MORE, AU VET PROFS SAY
AUBURN -- A white poodle, its pink belly lathered with clear jelly, patiently allows a radiologist at Auburn University to slide a steel probe across the area until she finds what she's looking for.
"There's our problem," she says, glancing at a video screen two feet away. "I suspect it's a tumor."
Bad news for the poodle, but a quick, relatively inexpensive and reasonably sure diagnosis by the radiologist.
Ultrasound, the now-common technique that uses sound waves to give pregnant women their first -- sort of -- look at their developing baby, is also becoming common in veterinary medicine.
And it's not only for monitoring development of the unborn. Veterinary radiologists today use ultrasound to detect animal ailments ranging from heart disease to cancer.
"Ultrasound is the best way, bar none, to image the heart,"says Sue Finn- Bodner, an associate professor of radiology at AU's College of Veterinary Medicine. "Use of ultrasound is emerging among professionals. It's amazing how many veterinary practitioners now have ultrasound equipment. In terms of animal uses, as late as five years ago these machines were found only in university hospitals or in specialty practices."
Finn-Bodner and other AU radiology faculty began last year holding three- day continuing professional education courses on ultrasound techniques for veterinarians, and the response has been tremendous.
"Our ultrasound courses fill up as quickly as any we offer," says Gary Beard, assistant dean for continuing education at the AU College of Veterinary Medicine. "That's because it's only been taught in the colleges in the last few years, and veterinarians who have been practicing for several years didn't have the opportunity to learn it in school, like today's students have. They need this to keep up with advancements in the profession and to be better able to serve their clients and patients."
Earl Cartee, an associate professor of anatomy and histology at Auburn, radiologist Judith Hudson of AU and Finn-Bodner, have co-authored a new textbook on the subject, Practical Veterinary Ultrasound.
The 329-page book includes chapters on ultrasound physics, the various instruments available, the ultrasound of various organs of companion and food animals, future applications of sonography and on treating exotic animals.
Veterinarians in the future will be more and more adept at using ultrasound technology to diagnose diseases, Cartee said.
"We feel that Auburn is a model because we believe our students probably receive more formal instruction in ultrasound than any other veterinary students in the country," Cartee said. "When today's students begin their professional careers, ultrasound will already be a tool they are comfortable with and confident in using."
Another reason for ultrasound's growing popularity among veterinarians is its cost-effectiveness.
"Diagnostic ultrasound costs many times less than computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging," Cartee said. "Pet owners are much more likely to be open to choosing this route if it's more affordable. Their animals then receive higher quality care."
Ultrasound might be described as sound at a frequency higher than humans can hear. Diagnostic medical ultrasound is usually produced at frequencies in the millions of cycles per second, called megahertz. Inside the body -- whether it's human or animal -- echoes returning are reassembled into electronic images for interpretation. Hence, the radiologist can "see" on a computer screen the organs and whether anything is amiss.
oct95:AU-ultrasound
CONTACT: Cartee, 334/844-6744 or Finn- Bodner,334/844-5045.