Lee High School

The Advancement of Technology and Medicine: How it Has Helped in the Veterinary Field

Erika Medina

Senior Capstone

Peter Foote

April 21, 2017

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Some people talk to animals. Not many listen though. Thats the problem. (A.A Milne,

12 Inspirational Quotes All Animal Lovers Should Know). Veterinarians dedicate their time to

helping out animals in need. This job is great for animal lovers, and that passion shows when

veterinarians are at work. If you care about patients, and their owners, you will do right by them

by knowing what to do..(A Veterinary Medicine Interview: Dr. Corinne R. Sweeney). A

veterinarians goal is to save the animals life any way they can. That wouldnt be possible

without medicine, and technology as their tools. As the years have gone by, medicine, and

technology in the medical field for humans has developed, as well as adjusted for veterinary use.

The advancements have helped find medical conditions much easier, assisted in surgeries,

and treated illnesses such as cancer, and osteoarthritis.

There wasnt much coming out of veterinary science until the late 19th century thanks to

the Sir John Mcfadyen, who is credited as the founder of veterinary science. In more recent

years, new technologies have been developed from what is used for humans such as MRI (MR),

CAT (CT), and Ultrasounds to help pets. Magnetic Resonance Imaging or MRI is a test that

produces images of anatomy in order to diagnose conditions. Veterinarians can obtain a scan of

the animals brain as well as its tissue structures. MRIs are able to find the causes of seizures

and, paralysis. The veterinarian Liesa Stone, said, We use to assume that dogs and cats did not

have strokes, but now through MRIs, we see that they do. We are visualizing tumors and how to

treat them. (MRI scanning technology applied to animals.) An example of MRI being used was

back in 2005. Kristi, a beagle was described by her owner to have been in great pain just by

walking Her owner, Jim Hazely did not want her to go through the process of exploratory

surgery to find out what was wrong, so he ended up deciding to take her in for an MRI scan. Not

only was Kristi spared the pain, the procedure cost much less than the surgery would have. CAT
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(Computed Axial Tomography) scans use x rays to get detailed pictures of the body, but are

better for finding broken bones, and blood clots. Dr Peter Scrivani, a professor at Cornell

University of Veterinary Science explained that CT scans are good for ..detail in bone, but MR

is best for soft tissue. (Pets Finally Get Their Own Magnetic Resonance (MRI) CT scans can

still be helpful in locating both nasal, and brain tumors, and sinus problems. A cheaper, but still

efficient alternative is ultrasounds. Using high frequency sound waves, ultrasounds allow people

to see inside of the body. Considered very safe, they can help check if any organs have masses

that are either benign (non-cancerous) or malignant (cancerous). Veterinarians can also use

ultrasounds for pregnant animals and to check for heart problems. Ultrasounds can be requested

by the veterinarian if the pet has issues such as vomiting for a long period of time, if they are

losing too much weight or if they have fluid in their abdomen. Anesthesia is not needed but for

most cases, pets have to be shaved so the waves can travel through the skin.

People didnt really perform surgeries on animals until veterinarians emerged, though

there are records about the early dissection of animals and taxonomy. More recently, theres tools

helping the process of surgery such as laparoscopy, and 3D printing. Laparoscopy is the process

of inserting a thin tool with a small camera, and light through the stomach. It is used for

checking unusual growths It can used to check for abnormal growths of tissue, damage to organs

or infections. In the year 2011 in Vietnam, an Asian black bear called Map-map, was the first to

have its damaged gall bladder removed using laparoscopy. It was operated on with the help of

UK vet Roman Pizzi who said, This procedure was only really possible thanks to a cutting edge

designed retractor. I hope this experience helps raise its profile, and encourage more

veterinary surgeons to look into it as a standard procedure. (Pioneering Surgery For Moon

Bear). 3D printing uses a computer program to make three-dimensional objects. A model of an

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animals bones are able to be created to give the surgeon a good idea of the structure before

operations. It also helps the vet practice for the surgery. When asked about of the advantages of

using 3D printing technology, the veterinarian radiologist Dr. Stephen Joslyn answered, 3D

printing is used so surgeons can practice a surgery before performing it on a live patient..

Multiple copies of the tissue can be printed. (Pet Talk: Advances in technology affect veterinary

medicine). An example of 3D printing helping an animal was in 2015. Without a known reason,

a goose was found with most of her bill missing, so she was taken into a rescue center. There,

the dentist Paolo Miamoto, who specialized in 3D facial, and dental reconstruction, was asked to

make another beak using a 3D printer. Their first attempt failed since the beak fell of the face not

long after so they had to recreate a new beak. After two attempts, the beak finally stayed on the

birds face. Miamoto was grateful for being able to give the animal a second chance and for

having the 3D printing technology available to him. He commented, ..Without these prosthetics,

most would have been euthanized because there was nobody to care for them. (Injured Animals

Get Second Chance With 3-D Printed Limbs). Two other examples of the usage of 3D printing,

involved giving a horse a brand new horse shoe and a cat a brand new knee.

One illness that pet owners fear hearing as a result from testing on their pet is cancer.

Cancer is also one of the main causes of death in pets especially dogs according to The

Veterinary Cancer Society. Animals get the same types of cancer like humans, but the most

common in cats, and dogs are skin, mammary gland, neck, lymphoma, and bone. Just like for

humans, chemotherapy works well on animals. Animals feel the effects more mildly than how a

human would, and many medications are given to the animal to make them feel comfortable.

The treatments SRT (Stereotactic radiation), and intracavitary chemotherapy are also available.

For this treatment, small amounts of large radiation is sent to the tumor over a short period. SRT
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can treat several types of tumors such as brain, nasal, and spine. According to Dr. Jarred Lyons,

a radiation oncologist, this works best for ..cases with a tumor in a location where surgery is not

feasible.. (New Cancer Therapy Options for Animals: Cyberknife Radiation). How intracavitary

chemotherapy is high doses of radiation is placed in a body cavity so the rest of the body isnt

exposed. This treatment is meant to expose neoplastic cells (Gorman, Jeffrey), and is best for

both carcinomatosis (cancer spreading widely around), and sarcomatosis (several tumors forming

on the body). As for another serious illness, osteoarthritis, which is a chronic form of arthritis,

theres a therapy called Stem cell therapy that can have great results. Genevieve Condon, a

veterinarian from Clyde Park Veterinary Clinic, listed this therapy in a recent interview. Our

latest advancement in our practice is we are now offering Stem Cell Therapy for treatment of

osteoarthritis. (Condon). Stem cells basically are a repair system that helps by ...replenishing

tissues of the body. ( Gade, 99). This therapy takes the animals stell cell filled fat and inserts it

back to the patient. According to the author of the book Medicine Dog: The Miraculous Cure

that Healed My Best Friend and Saved My Life, Julia Szabo, stem therapy improved her pit bull

Sams life. What happened that day changed both our lives. (Szabo,v, Prologue). Szabo

described the painful situation Sam was in as, His poor bones were grinding against each other

without a cushion; I winced to see him suffer with each halting step, keenly feeling his

discomfort. (Szabo, 9) She also explained the stem cell therapy, and how it worked for Sam.

Stem cells move to the swollen parts of the body, and In Sams case, they went right to his

inflamed joints, and it worked. (Stell Cell Therapy Works Wonders For A Dog--And His

Owner). Only a few hours after the procedure was performed, Sam moved around like brand

new. Sam was able to live to be seventeen years old.

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Advancements in technology, and medicine has impacted the veterinary field by helping

find medical conditions, assisting in performing surgeries, and helping treat several illnesses.

Genevieve Condons take on the advancement of medicine is, Veterinary medicine is constantly

changing, and improving techniques. In order to provide the best care possible for patients, and

clients, keeping up with current veterinary news is extremely important. (Condon) She also

made a note about Veterinary Information Network (VIN), an online group for vets where they

discuss about new trends in the field. Its not always possible to save every pet, but veterinarians

make an attempt to do so, and with the world going forward with new technology, conditions that

couldnt be treated in the past, are treated today.

Works Cited

"A Veterinary Medicine interview: Dr. Corinne R. Sweeney; Always be honest, says this
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large-animal internal medicine specialist who helped treat Barbaro. 'The first error in

medicine is making a mistake. The second error is lying about it.'." Veterinary Medicine, Nov.

2006, p. 705+. Health Reference Center Academic, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?

p=HRCA&sw=w&u=lom_accessmich&v=2.1&id=GALE

%7CA156553918&it=r&asid=e532610e45aa10ed1b9dcc3009989827. Accessed 30 Mar. 2017.

Arnold, Carrie. "Injured Animals Get Second Chance With 3-D Printed Limbs".

News.nationalgeographic.com. N.p., 2016. Web. 27 Mar. 2017.

Condon, Genevieve. Mentor Interview. 2017. in person.

Dale, Steve. "Stem-Cell Therapy Works Wonders For A Dog -- And His Owner".

chicagotribune.com. N.p., 2014. Web. 29 Mar. 2017.

Gade, Nitin E., et al. "Therapeutic potential of stem cells in veterinary practice." Veterinary

World, Aug. 2012, p. 499+. Health Reference Center Academic, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?

p=HRCA&sw=w&u=lom_accessmich&v=2.1&id=GALE

%7CA343532821&it=r&asid=cc9b8f18d535fcda3322149bcd2e428d. Accessed 30 Mar. 2017.

Gorman, Lisa, and Jeffrey N. Bryan. "Intracavitary and intralesional chemotherapy in dogs and

cats: in well-selected cases, these localized chemotherapies have shown promise. Although

cases are infrequent, such therapies could benefit certain patients, especially when standard

treatments are not an option." Veterinary Medicine, Mar. 2013, p. 114+. Health Reference Center

Academic, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=HRCA&sw=w&u=lom_accessmich&v=2.1&id=GALE

%7CA327046282&it=r&asid=e4ebc8d540421b5e58d4bc4142af976b. Accessed 30 Mar. 2017.

"MRI Scanning Technology Applied To Animals East Bay Times". Eastbaytimes.com. N.p.,

2005. Web. 21 Apr. 2017.

Netherton, Sarah. "Pet Talk: Advances In Technology Affect Veterinary Medicine".

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News-gazette.com. N.p., 2014. Web. 26 Mar. 2017.

"Pioneering Surgery For Moon Bear By Edinburgh Vet - BBC News". BBC News. N.p., 2011.

Web. 26 Mar. 2017.

Swartz, Anna. "12 Inspirational Quotes All Animal Lovers Should Know". The Dodo - For

Animal People. N.p., 2015. Web. 21 Mar. 2017.

"Pets Finally Get Their Own Magnetic Resonance (MRI) Machineat Cornell's Veterinary

Hospital". Vet.cornell.edu. N.p., 2004. Web. 24 Mar. 2017.

Palmquist, Richard. "New Cancer Therapy Options For Animals: Cyberknife Radiation". The

Huffington Post. N.p., 2012. Web. 28 Mar. 2017.

Szabo, Julia. Medicine Dog: The Miraculous Cure That Healed My Best Friend And Saved My

Life. 1st ed. National Book Network, 2014. Print.

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