Dr. Mathieu Spriet | Horse Racing Free Tips

UC Davis Standing Equine PET Scanner Now In Use At Golden Gate Fields

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. The scanner (the MILEPET from LONGMILE Veterinary Imaging) allows for imaging of a horse's leg while under mild sedation, eliminating the time, cost, and health risks associated with general anesthesia. In use at the UC Davis veterinary hospital since March, the instrument has been transported by a team of UC Davis veterinarians and technicians to the equine hospital at Golden Gate Fields once a week for the past month.

Dr. Mathieu Spriet, the equine radiologist who pioneered equine PET, is very enthusiastic about this new development. “Running the PET scanner at Golden Gate Fields brings multiple benefits,” said Spriet. “First, it provides Northern California horseracing with the same technology that has helped improve racehorse health and safety in Southern California. Second, it demonstrates that the equine PET scanner can be efficiently transported and shared between multiple sites, reducing costs and increasing availability. And finally, it opens the door to more research opportunities with performing multicenter studies.”

This achievement was made possible thanks to support from the UC Davis Center for Equine Health and the Stronach Group, owners of the Golden Gate Fields racetrack. Both parties have been intimately involved with the development of equine PET. The Center for Equine Health was at the origin of the very first equine PET performed in Davis in 2015 and has since supported the development of the modality by funding several research projects as well as a clinical program. The Stronach Group has had a key role in the last two years by providing partial support to develop the first scanner allowing imaging of standing horses in an effort to prevent catastrophic breakdown in racehorses.

The original MILEPET, owned by the Southern California Equine Foundation with support from the Stronach Group, has been in use at Santa Anita Park since December 2019. In a year and a half, over 200 horses have been imaged with the scanner, several on multiple occasions. Research projects supported by the Grayson Jockey Club and the Dolly Green Research Foundations have helped characterize the value of PET scanning in racehorses. The PET scanner is ideal for imaging the fetlock (the horse's ankle), which is the most common site for catastrophic injuries in racehorses. The first research study performed at Santa Anita demonstrated that PET was far superior to bone scan, another imaging technique in use at the racetrack, for identifying injuries in the sesamoid bones (the small bones at the back of the ankle). Two subsequent studies demonstrated the value of PET to monitor injuries while healing and joint health as horses go back into training.

The use of PET at Santa Anita, in combination with the use of MRI and medication rule changes, is one of several factors that have led to a marked decrease in the number of fatalities between 2019 and 2020. Based on this success, the Stronach Group was eager to offer the same technology at Golden Gate Fields. The proximity to UC Davis offered a unique opportunity to utilize the scanner at both sites. It is currently available at the UC Davis veterinary hospital four days a week and one day a week at Golden Gate Fields. The relative small size (4 x 5 feet, 300 lbs) and mobility of the scanner make it possible to load in a trailer, drive the hour from Davis to Berkeley, and start scanning about 30 minutes after arriving at the racetrack.

To date, 36 horses have been scanned in the first six weeks of operation at Golden Gate Fields. All scans are performed by a UC Davis team led by Dr. Mathieu Spriet and a Golden Gate Fields team, led by Dr. Casille Batten, veterinarian for the Stronach Group. All four fetlocks of a horse can be imaged in 15 to 30 minutes. A new barn was built at the Golden Gate Fields equine hospital specifically for the PET horses, making it possible to scan six horses in one imaging session. Up to 12 horses can be imaged in one day. Two projects, one evaluating horses with injuries and the other assessing horses with no signs of injuries, are ongoing with the support of the Oak Tree and Dolly Green Research Foundations. Both studies aim at comparing findings from horses imaged at Golden Gate Fields with those imaged at Santa Anita. As the two sites use different types of race surfaces, (i.e. synthetic at Golden Gate Fields and dirt at Santa Anita), these studies will help document and compare the effect of the different surfaces on the horses' bones.

Standing Equine PET Now In Use At UC Davis

UC Davis has welcomed the latest standing equine PET scanner, the MILEPET, into clinical use, less than six years after performing the world's first PET scan on a horse.

Thanks to funding support from the UC Davis Center for Equine Health and the Stronach Group, the UC Davis veterinary hospital recently installed the most recent MILEPET. After the installation of the first scanner at Santa Anita Park racetrack, a second scanner was set up on the East Coast at the University of Pennsylvania. This newest instrument at UC Davis will provide the most innovative equine imaging technique using only standing sedation to the Northern California horse population.

Since the first equine PET scan was performed at UC Davis in 2015, there have been many other “firsts” as the team, led by Dr. Mathieu Spriet, worked to develop the use of the technique to improve detection of injuries in equine limbs. The s were performed two years ago, removing the need for horses to undergo general anesthesia during imaging. Subsequently, our group validated the first scanner designed specifically to image horses prior to its installation at Santa Anita in Southern California. This scanner has now been used for over 200 studies at the racetrack, contributing to reducing the number of catastrophic injuries in racehorses.

For the past five years, the UC Davis veterinary hospital's robust equine clinical program has imaged over 100 horses, but until recently, all of these scans were performed with the piPET, a scanner originally developed to image the human brain. This program accomplished several milestones in the development of equine PET, establishing applications not only for racehorse safety, but also for diagnosis of bone and soft tissue injuries in sport horses and improved understanding of laminitis. The clinical use of the technique was limited due to the requirement to anesthetize horses, which increases costs and risks associated with the procedure.

The initial clinical case utilizing the new scanner at the UC Davis veterinary hospital was another first, a mule named Jool. She was the first patient included in a clinical trial aimed at combining standing PET with standing MRI to provide the most advanced imaging for foot lameness in horses (or mules).

In addition, a second standing PET study is underway, aimed at assessing the progression of laminitis. Laminitis is an extremely debilitating disease that can unfortunately be fatal. Laminitic patients require long-term, careful hoof care performed by an experienced farrier. UC Davis veterinary hospital farrier Shane Westman has a long list of these challenging patients. In order to manage the trimming and shoeing optimally, Westman relies on imaging techniques. In a pilot study performed on laminitic cases at UC Davis, PET demonstrated its value in precisely assessing the involvement of the soft tissues of the foot with laminitis. As PET now becomes available using simple sedation, it simplifies the use of the technique and allows for repeated scans every time a patient comes for shoeing and trimming.

In addition to these two specific clinical research studies, standing PET is now available to any equine patient in Northern California. Standing PET can image any area of the limb from the foot to the carpus (knee) or tarsus (hock).

The racehorse population of Golden Gate Fields racetrack will also benefit from the new PET scanner. As the technique has quickly gained in popularity at Santa Anita Park, a few Northern California racehorses have traveled south to be imaged with PET. Now these horses won't need to travel so far. In addition to being in operation at UC Davis, the MILEPET scanner will soon be transported on a weekly basis to image horses at the equine hospital at Golden Gate Fields.

Dr. Spriet was very enthusiastic about these latest developments in the UC Davis equine PET program, “The standing PET scanner will allow us to offer this cutting-edge modality to more cases than we could before. Repeating scans on the same patient will help us optimize treatment and rehabilitation for better outcomes.”

“Through support from our donors and endowments, we have been able to support the equine PET program at UC Davis since 2016 by providing both research and equipment support,” said Dr. Carrie Finno, director of the UC Davis Center for Equine Health. “It is incredibly rewarding to see this technology now being used to prevent catastrophic injuries in racehorses across California.”

More horses, and mules, will be scanned in the near future!

Santa Anita PET Scans Allowing Horsemen To ‘Assess The Response Of An Injury’ Over Time

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.

Overall, 65 different horses were imaged with the scanner, with several horses imaged multiple times, several weeks apart. In total, images of 186 front ankles, 28 hind ankles, 16 knees, and 11 feet were acquired. As shown by these numbers, the front ankles are the main area of interest, as these are the joints most commonly involved in severe injuries in racehorses.

The first objective after installation of the scanner at the racetrack was to complete a study, funded by the Grayson Jockey Club Research Foundation, aiming at assessing the value of PET for identification and follow-up of ankle injuries. The study called for 24 horses with signs of fetlock injuries to be imaged three times with the PET scanner, with follow-up scans six and 12 weeks after the initial scans. All 24 horses have now been enrolled, and over half of these horses have completed all three scans.

All scans were successful, providing very interesting preliminary results.

“The PET scans provide very precise information about the injury,” said Dr. Mathieu Spriet, associate professor of diagnostic imaging at UC Davis and lead veterinarian on the study. “With a classic 'bone scan,' we usually can associate the injury with one of the bones of the ankle, but with the PET, we can really localize the abnormality to a specific area in a bone.”

This is of particular importance, as injuries to specific areas of the ankle bones are known to predispose horses to catastrophic breakdown.

Another benefit of the PET scan is the ability to see changes over time.

“As we have repeated scans six weeks apart, we have seen marked improvement on many of the injuries following treatment and rest, whereas other injuries remained active,” continued Dr. Spriet. “Being able to assess the response of an injury is very helpful to decide the course of action: deciding whether a horse needs more time off, a different treatment, can go back to the track or should be retired from racing – these are very challenging decisions to make for the veterinarians at the track. The PET images have provided objective data to support these decisions.”

In addition to the 24 horses in the Grayson Jockey Club study, more than 40 horses have been scanned at the request of their veterinarians. Horses were sent in by 14 different veterinarians coming from 26 different trainers, demonstrating how broadly the technique has already been embraced by the Santa Anita racing community.

As a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scanner was also installed at Santa Anita Park earlier this year, another on-going study, supported by the Oak Tree Foundation, aims at comparing PET and MRI findings in the ankles of racehorses. Twenty horses have been enrolled in this study with preliminary results demonstrating the complementarity of both techniques to provide the best assessment of various injuries.

Another study, supported by the Dolly Green Research Foundation, has recently started. This study aims at monitoring horses who are resuming training after being laid-up due to ankle injury. The goal is to assess the ankle on a regular basis to be able to adapt the training, if early signs of injury were to recur.

“It is very impressive how much has been accomplished and how much we have learned in the last six months, thanks to the support of key partners and the hard work of the technical staff and the veterinarians at Santa Anita Park,” said Dr. Spriet. “We have been able to establish this new technology as a reliable, high-precision diagnostic tool for racehorses.”

It is likely that the knowledge about PET will keep growing quickly. In addition to the different on-going studies at Santa Anita Park, this technology is now available outside of California, as a MILEPET scanner has just been installed at New Bolton Center, the equine veterinary hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. There are also on-going efforts to secure the funding to install another MILEPET at the UC Davis Veterinary Medical Center, where it would be available for racehorses from Golden Gate Fields and for sport horses across Northern California.

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