New enhancements to nuclear imaging technology at the University of Wisconsin Veterinary Care (UWVC) are speeding up visits and improving diagnoses for animal patients.

For the last 25 years, UWVC has employed an imaging method called nuclear scintigraphy, in which tracers—small doses of radioactive elements—are tagged to injected drugs that travel to specific sites in the body. By using a gamma camera to determine the location and quantity of the element in an organ, veterinarians can measure how well it is functioning or if an active process, like cancer growth or bone fracture repair, is affecting the area.

And now, with the recent installment of a new gamma camera, images can be obtained more quickly and with greater detail.

“The new camera is 33% faster, and it’s more sensitive, so it provides more detail and helps us with diagnoses and allows us to get animals in and out faster,” said Kenneth Waller, DVM, MS, clinical assistant professor of diagnostic imaging and assistant dean for clinical affairs at the UW School of Veterinary Medicine. “It’s definitely an overall improvement in our clinical offerings