How does it work?
The Digatherm technology measures the radiated energy from the tissue. The difference in radiated energy is measured by temperature and colour associated with change.
The high-resolution camera and software can detect changes of less than 0.020C- that’s 20 times more sensitive than your fingers at detecting small changes in heat and 10 times more sensitive to detect cold.
Various colour palates help us to visualise the changes as heat and cold is conducted to the surface of the body. Hotter areas depict inflammation whilst cooler areas show a lack of circulation.
Which patients can benefit from Digital thermal imaging?
Digital thermal imaging is not a diagnosis, but a step to help us to target our treatments, identify areas for further assessment or review our therapy.
- Pets with pain or lameness but unable to identify where
- Older pets with multiple areas of discomfort
- Recovering pets after surgery eg cruciate surgery
- Neurological cases such as intervertebral disc disease
- Orthopaedic cases such as cruciate injuries, degenerative joint disease, elbow dysplasia
- Monitoring Cancer activity
- Checking lameness / gait analysis- is your pet evenly weight bearing on all 4 legs?
- Strains or over use injuries in active pets
Benefits of Digital thermal imaging:
- The thermal gradients help to map out the anatomical areas that need more investigation
- Early detection of disorders before they become an issue in your pet eg Osteoarthritis
- Gives us an objective measurement of the progress of treatment- such as medication or therapeutic laser and allow adjustments to the treatment plan
- A visual image to help you understand your pet’s situation and identify areas of inflammation
- At Paws in Motion, we see many pets which are unable to be sedated safely for Xrays or other imaging. Digatherm gives us the ability to locate problems areas (both primary and compensatory) of concern and focus our treatment.
- For therapeutic laser, it helps us to see the improvements in our pets.