PET scan

UC Davis’ comparative oncology program, a partnership between UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center and Veterinary Medicine that combines human and companion-animal oncology, has been included as part of the renewal of UC Davis’ status as a “comprehensive” cancer center by the National Cancer Institute.

On August 5, UC Davis veterinary radiologist Dr. Mathieu Spriet presented "New Equine Imaging Options with Standing PET at UC Davis," an informative webinar to update veterinarians on the latest in positron emission tomography (PET) for horses.

UC Davis veterinary radiologist and pioneering researcher of equine PET scanning, Dr. Mathieu Spriet was recently selected as one of three veterinary specialists who will review all diagnostic imaging of horses competing in Australia’s 2021 Victorian Spring Racing Carnival.

Standing equine positron emission tomography (PET) imaging is not just for racehorses anymore. In the first four months since the installation of the MILEPET scanner at the UC Davis veterinary hospital, 100 horses have been imaged; more than half were performance and pleasure horses.

The UC Davis standing equine positron emission tomography (PET) scanner is officially in use at Golden Gate Fields racetrack in Berkeley, CA, providing imaging at the molecular level to monitor racehorse health and guide training and medical care.

UC Davis has welcomed the latest standing equine PET scanner, the MILEPET, into clinical use.

One year ago, on December 12, 2019, Santa Anita Park installed the world’s first MILE-PET device, a positron emission tomography (PET) scanner specifically designed to image standing racehorses. This installation, one of several measures to reduce breakdowns at the racetrack, received a lot of attention at a time when Santa Anita was just coming out of a challenging racing season, with a cluster of horse fatalities early in the year.

The equine Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scanner pioneered by the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, in collaboration with LONGMILE Veterinary Imaging, is now in heavy use at Santa Anita Park in Southern California. In just over six months since the installation in December 2019, with the financial support from the Stronach Group, more than 100 scans have been performed with the “MILEPET” (Molecular Imaging of Limbs in Equids), the PET scanner specifically designed to acquire images on horses without the need to lay them down.

Dr. Mathieu Spriet, an associate professor in the Department of Surgical and Radiological Sciences, recently passed boarding examinations to become a founding member of the American College of Veterinary Radiology’s (ACVR) new subspecialty of Equine Diagnostic Imaging.