Blowing in the wind: How accurate is thermography of horses' legs?
Infrared thermography is increasingly being applied to investigate the cause of lameness in horses. The equipment is easy to handle and the method is fast and safe, both for the animal and for the vet. But is it accurate? Recent work by Simone Westermann at the Vetmeduni Vienna shows that the technique is surprisingly tolerant of variation in the position of the equipment, i.e. how far from the horse and at what angle to the animal the infrared camera is held. However, it is extremely important to ensure that the horse is not standing in a draught as even barely detectable wind speeds are sufficient to effect the measurements dramatically. The findings are published in two articles, one in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association and the other in the Equine Veterinary Journal, and are sure to be of great interest to vets...