Diagnostic Imaging Service
Davies Veterinary Specialists has one of the country’s leading Diagnostic Imaging Departments, led by Dr Davies, a RCVS Recognised and European Specialist in Veterinary Diagnostic Imaging. Nuria Corzo Menéndez, Francisco Llabrés Diaz, Dr Audrey Petite and Charlotte Whatmough assist him.

Julie Riches VN, DipAVN and Frankie Blundell VN, provide radiographic support. Three other members of staff have qualifications in radiology but now work primarily in orthopaedics. This provides a wide base of expertise in imaging within the practice. The practice also provides a 24-hour turn-round radiographic reporting service for other veterinary practices.

This service reports more than 200 cases per month and is a vital link with referring practices.

Facilities include three conventional X-ray suites, two fluoroscopic (moving/real-time X-ray) units (one with digital subtraction for vascular studies) and three ultrasound (including Doppler) units. In addition off-site access is available to CT and nuclear medicine.

In August 2005 we proudly introduced our Hitachi Aperto 0.4T MRI unit. This has been working hard providing top quality images for all services.

In December 2007 a GE CT/e dual slice computed tomography unit was commisioned and has proven an excellent and exciting addition to our imaging capacity. The powerful nature of the imaging CT provides is shown by this »movie« showing virtual bronchoscopy .

Historically the use of X-rays, termed radiography, was the fundamental means of creating images of patients. There is no doubt it still has a major role to play and will do for many years to come. Technicians specialising in the use of X-rays were called radiographers and the clinicians interpreting those images called radiologists for obvious reasons.
With the rapid expansion of computer technology from the 1960s onwards, new ideas for medical imaging have been developing.

These include linking computer power to X-radiation and also linking computer technology to other energy sources that might provide medical images.

Most people are familiar with ultrasonography, (used in pregnancy assessment and soft tissue imaging), computed tomography or CT (an X-ray based computer assisted modality), magnetic resonance imaging or MRI (- a computer assisted system that uses powerful magnetic fields and radio waves to generate the image) and nuclear medicine or scintigraphy (a technique where a small dose of short acting radioactivity is used to identify various tissues or organs that may be diseased).

More recently some of these techniques have been hybridised. The technological explosion can only continue.. Not surprisingly the discipline is now called by some Diagnostic Imaging rather than Radiology. However, those clinicians specialising in the subject in the UK are still called radiologists.