Advancements in medical technology are rapidly driving a new age of diagnostic imaging. The veterinary hospital is leading the way in this capacity, and the team envisions an All Species Imaging Center (ASIC) as a hub of the new Veterinary Medical Center. Centrally located in the new facility, ASIC will bring together radiology, ultrasound, nuclear scintigraphy, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), computed tomography (CT), and positron emission tomography (PET) under one roof to better serve patients and clients.

These imaging techniques are critical not just for diagnostics, but to guide the precision therapy clinicians provide to patients. Additionally, imaging is becoming more important in assessing how patients are responding to new treatments. This is crucial to the research that the Center for Companion Animal Health (CCAH) supports and why the CCAH, through its donor support, is helping fund advances in new types of imaging.

“Many of the studies we fund are clinical studies,” said Dr. Michael Kent, CCAH director. “Finding better, less invasive ways of tracking disease and seeing how patients respond to new treatments is vital to improved animal health.”

Imaging requires cutting-edge equipment and specialized space. Therefore, having a designated area to house this equipment together will streamline patient care. The ASIC will reduce wait and anesthesia times (thus reducing stress on the animal), allow different imaging tests to be conducted at the same time and, above all, promote integrated care and research of the highest quality.

The future of imaging at UC Davis will embrace PET scan technology to diagnose injuries that may not be visible with other imaging modalities. The ASIC will also expand our MRI capability and enable space for a second MRI unit to expand clinical operations and enhance research discoveries. Our clinical and research MRI caseload has steadily increased over the past 15 years, nearly tripling since 2002.

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