Turnbull launches Animal Referral Hospital’s high field MRI

Sydney’s Animal Referral Hospital’s (ARH) high field magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machine, delivered late last year, has been launched by Malcolm Turnbull MP.

The machine has been dedicated to Turbull’s former pet, Mellie. Words about her, shared on his website after the dog’s death last year now adorn the walls of the hospital.

Mellie was a wonderful dog and we miss her very much,” Turnbull said. “I’m sure she would be very pleased [the MRI] is named after her. Congratulations to the ARH for the great work you do.”

The machine is the first high field MRI in private veterinary practice in Australia specifically designed for companion animals and with technology equivalent to those in human hospitals. It will allow detailed diagnoses of conditions otherwise impossible to confirm without invasive surgery.

The machine will be available at all hours to ARH patients and by referral to other veterinary hospitals in the Sydney area.

With an MRI, veterinarians can easily and accurately investigate dogs with hard-to-diagnose brain disorders, spinal cord dysfunction, nerve pathology, invasive cancers and obscure causes of lameness due to injured tendons, intervertebral discs, ligaments, bones and joints, among many other problems,” ARH director David Simpson said.

In the past, patients have not had immediate access to an MRI as specialist vets have relied on very limited access to human facilities, which is a problem for critically ill patients.

The introduction of the hospital’s external referral service also means general practice veterinarians will be able to request an MRI and have the images and reports sent back to their practice for directing further diagnosis and treatment.

The ARH has access to specialist veterinary radiologists around the world, allowing efficient and timely reporting on all MRI images, whatever time they are taken. MRI is also covered by pet insurance, making the service affordable to many pet owners.

Thanks to the high field magnet MRI and other imaging modalities we have at the ARH (such as the CT scanner, digital x-rays, fluoroscopy, endoscopy and colour flow Doppler ultrasound), we can fully investigate veterinary cases as far as possible and to the level achieved in human medicine, and provide our patients with the best possible outcome,” Simpson said.

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