Equine veterinary specialists at Oklahoma State University’s (OSU) Veterinary Medical Hospital recently acquired a dynamic respiratory scope to help better view the respiratory tract of horses.

“The dynamic respiratory scope, or DRS, will allow us to better assess the upper respiratory tracts of performance horses,” explained Daniel Burba, DVM, Dipl. ACVS, a professor of equine surgery at OSU’s Veterinary Medical Hospital. “The DRS will be a valuable tool in assessing whether or not the problem is in the throat area.”

Burba said various problems can occur in an upper respiratory tract of horses. The new DRS system can help them diagnose things such as roaring, dorsal displacement of the soft palate, and problems with the epiglottis. He said that sometimes a horse’s throat will even collapse during exercise.

The DRS system is portable, worn across the horse’s back, and can fit under the horse’s regular saddle. A scope is placed up the horse’s nose and a transmitter then projects images from the horse’s throat onto a portable computer screen