Radiology

We offer the following radiology services:

• Digital Radiographs (Xrays)
• PennHIP & OFA Radiographs with a Certified Veterinarian
• Digital Dental Radiographs
• Ultrasound
• Radiology Consult & Ultrasound Services with Board Certified Radiologists

Radiographs

We utilize digital radiography with our full sized Xray machine as well as our portable dental unit. These are valuable diagnostic tools in veterinary medicine which can be used to evaluate almost any body part, including the heart, lungs, stomach, bones and teeth. This gives us information about your pet that we could never see by just looking at them.

• Radiography is painless, safe, and completely non-invasive.
• The level of radiation exposure needed to perform radiography is low and safe for your pet.
• Radiographs can be used to evaluate bones, as well as the size, shape, and position of many of the body's organs.
  • The size of an organ is important because some medical conditions (such as kidney, heart or liver disease) can alter the size of these organs.
  • The shape and position of organs can be altered or distorted by certain medical conditions, including intestinal blockage or cancer.

• Tumors, depending on their size and location, can also sometimes be detected using radiography.
• Radiography can also be used to diagnose bladder stones, broken bones, chronic arthritis, certain spinal cord diseases, and a variety of other conditions.
• We utilize digital dental radiography as needed for patients undergoing a dental cleaning so that we can check the health of teeth roots. This will help us determine if the tooth can be saved or needs extracted.

Ultrasound

As with radiographs, the veterinarian can use the ultrasound machine to see internal organs and their consistency that we wouldn't be able to see by just looking at your pet. Ultrasound doesn't use radiation, but rather it uses high frequency sound (ultrasound) waves to create an image.

The machine is connected to a small probe that is held gently against your pet's skin. The probe sends out painless ultrasound waves that bounce off of organs and other structures in your pet's body and returns them to a sensor inside the ultrasound machine. The ultrasound equipment collects these reflected 'echoes' and uses them to generate images that are viewable on a screen.

Ultrasound waves can generate excellent images of abdominal organs (including the liver, spleen, gallbladder, and kidneys) which gives us more information about the organs than a radiograph can. For instance, we can see that an organ is enlarged on an radiograph, however, the ultrasound will give us information regarding the organ's structure, helping us determine what is wrong with the organ. We can use ultrasound to see bladder stones, check for any abnormalities within the organ's structure/tissues (such as tumors), and gain other valuable diagnostic information.