Horses to benefit from new MRI facility

Miles Littlewort, a trustee from the Alborada Trust, cutting the ribbon to open the new standing equine MRI facility Bhagesh Sachania, University of Bristol

Press release issued: 6 July 2015

Horses in the region will benefit following the opening of a new standing equine magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) facility at the University of Bristol’s equine centre.

The new facility, which was unveiled to donors and supporters of the Langford Trust last month, provides the centre with some of the best facilities in the region and confirms the University’s School of Veterinary Sciences as a centre of excellence for the treatment and care of horses and farm animals, the training of undergraduate and postgraduate veterinary surgeons and for advancing knowledge through clinical research.

The equine MRI facility completes the diagnostic imaging facilities in the School, which include a 16-slice CT scanner for small animals and standing horses, digital radiography, high-resolution fluoroscopy, diagnostic ultrasound, echocardiography and scintigraphy with a high-resolution 1.5 tesla MRI scanner, available seven days a week.

The facility is run by Langford Veterinary Services Ltd, a totally owned subsidiary of the University of Bristol.

Evita Busschers, Senior Teaching Fellow and orthopaedic surgeon in the equine centre, said: “We are very grateful to the Trustees of the Alborada Trust and the Langford Trust who have provided generous support for the MRI facility. The new imaging facility will enable us to provide an even better and more complete service for our equine patients and completes the diagnostic imaging facilities available at the centre.

“Equine MRI offers the ability to image soft tissue structures and identify soft tissue injuries that cannot be demonstrated with other diagnostic imaging modalities and therefore has major additional value in providing a diagnosis and prognosis in lameness evaluations.”

Miles Littlewort, a trustee from the Alborada Trust and who cut the ribbon to open the new facility, added: “Donating the money is the easy bit but ensuring that it has been used where it should be and that it has made the necessary difference is much more challenging. We are so pleased to have had the opportunity to support the Langford Trust and their work to improve animal health and welfare. We are delighted to have attended the opening, to meet the clinicians who will use the magnificent facility and to learn about the clinical research which gives all veterinary surgeons evidence-based information to enhance diagnosis and treatment for all patients.”

The Langford Trust is a charity that supports the University’s School of Veterinary Sciences to promote the practice, advancement and teaching of veterinary science. Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cornwall has been Patron of the Trust since 2006 and is the Trust’s first Patron.

Further information

About the Langford Trust
The Langford Trust was founded in 1990, following recognition of the need to improve the facilities at the University of Bristol’s School of Veterinary Sciences necessary to accommodate an increase in the number of undergraduate veterinary and veterinary nursing students. The Trust has provided funds to expand both clinical facilities and teaching space and supports clinical research.

About the Alborada Trust
The Alborada Trust was founded on 1 October 2001. The charity’s aims include the funding of veterinary causes in the United Kingdom and Ireland, with activities primarily devoted to the welfare of animals and/or in their associated research.

The Alborada Trust also assists with projects throughout the world associated with the relief of poverty, human suffering, sickness or ill health and it is also active in the advancement of education.