Mid-Field Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Cross-Sectional Anatomy of the Yearling Chinese Equine Distal Forelimb

摘要

The objective of this study is to perform mid-field (0.4T) Magnetic Resonant Imaging (MRI) on a distal forelimb of a healthy Mongolian yearling horse and obtain a detailed cross-sectional comparison between the MRI and anatomy images. T1-weighted, T2-weighted, PD-weighted and STIR sequence were performed to acquire images of the horse distal limb on the transverse plane. After imaging, the limb was frozen and cut into slices to get anatomy photos. Comparisons between the MR images and corresponding frozen cross-sections of the horse limb were made to identify the anatomic details of the horse limb. The results of this study indicate that mid-field MRI can be used to diagnose lesions in the equine distal forelimb at an early stage of lameness. Besides, this study also provides an atlas of gross anatomy of the carpus and fetlock in mid-field MRI which may benefit veterinary clinical evaluation and medical research.