Animals in the region will benefit following the opening of a new standing equine magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) facility at the University of Bristol’s equine centre.
The new facility, which was unveiled to donors and supporters of the Langford Trust last month, provides the centre with some of the best facilities in the region and confirms the University’s School of Veterinary Sciences as a centre of excellence for the treatment and care of horses and farm animals, the training of undergraduate and postgraduate veterinary surgeons and for advancing knowledge through clinical research.
The equine MRI facility completes the diagnostic imaging facilities in the School, which include a 16-slice CT scanner for small animals and standing horses, digital radiography, high-resolution fluoroscopy, diagnostic ultrasound, echocardiography and scintigraphy with a high-resolution 1.5 tesla MRI scanner, available seven days a week.
The facility is run by Langford Veterinary Services Ltd, a totally owned subsidiary of the University of Bristol.
Evita Busschers, Senior Teaching Fellow and orthopaedic surgeon in the equine centre, said: “We are very grateful to the Trustees of the Alborada Trust and the Langford Trust who have provided generous support for the MRI facility. The new imaging facility will enable us to provide an even better and more complete service for our equine patients and completes the diagnostic imaging facilities available at the centre.
“Equine MRI offers the ability to image soft tissue structures and identify soft tissue injuries that cannot be demonstrated with other diagnostic imaging modalities and therefore has major additional value in providing a diagnosis and prognosis in lameness evaluations.”
Miles Littlewort, a trustee from the Alborada Trust and who cut the ribbon to open the new facility, added: “Donating the money is the easy bit but ensuring that it has been used where it should be and that it has made the necessary difference is much more challenging. We are so pleased to have had the opportunity to support the Langford Trust and their work to improve animal health and welfare. We are delighted to have attended the opening, to meet the clinicians who will use the magnificent facility and to learn about the clinical research which gives all veterinary surgeons evidence-based information to enhance diagnosis and treatment for all patients.”
The Langford Trust is a charity that supports the University’s School of Veterinary Sciences to promote the practice, advancement and teaching of veterinary science. Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cornwall has been Patron of the Trust since 2006 and is the Trust’s first Patron.
