Dr. Scott E. Palmer, NYS Equine Medical Director, gave the following statement about PET scan technology during a Equine Health & Safety Briefing regarding the 2023 race meet at Saratoga Race Course presented to the New York State Gaming Commission during its meeting on Oct. 3, 2023:
Recently, there have been conversations about possibly scanning all horses prior to racing with a Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scan.
(PET) scan is a form of “advanced” imaging that involves injecting a radioactive isotope into the body and then using a sensor to image the localization of that isotope in areas of the body with increased metabolic activity, such as bone modeling or bone remodeling. Because of its ability to detect active metabolic processes, it can often detect abnormalities in bone or soft tissue before those abnormalities can be detected with other imaging modalities, such as radiography, MRI or Computed Tomography (CT).
As such, PET is a fantastic diagnostic tool. However, PET is not an appropriate screening tool to detect horses at risk for catastrophic injury.
Identification of horses at risk for catastrophic injury should begin with a screening protocol that can be scalable, practical, affordable, and applicable to every horse while training or while racing without regard to any clinical indication of injury. Wearable biometric sensors are best suited to accomplish this first level of screening. These sensors detect subtle abnormalities in a horse's gait that are not detectable with the human eye. They serve as a “check engine” light that alerts us to the possibility that there is something wrong with the horse and that the horse should be examined by a veterinarian.
The veterinary examination is the second level of detection of an abnormality that might predispose a horse to injury. The goal is to reach a diagnosis of musculoskeletal abnormalities and typically will include use of diagnostic nerve blocks and digital radiography. If lameness is detected in a limb during this examination and digital radiographs are inconclusive, then advanced imaging such as PET can be employed as a final step in this process.
The NYS Gaming Commission has been doing pioneering research with wearable biometric sensors to identify horses at increased risk for injury at NYRA racetracks for the past three years. The results are promising. Sensors were placed in the saddlecloths of racehorses racing at Saratoga, Belmont Park, and Aqueduct in 2021 and 2022. These sensors measure acceleration in three dimensions during high-speed exercise. Thus far, this technology can identify horses at risk for injury, but wearable biometric sensors are not quite ready for “prime time” use at this time. Stay tuned for further developments.
In summary, PET can play a very important role in the diagnosis of subtle musculoskeletal injuries in horses, but it is not useful at the screening level.
The post New York Equine Medical Director: PET Scan ‘Not An Appropriate Screening Tool To Detect Horses At Risk For Catastrophic Injury’ appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
