Mystic Aquarium is celebrating the acquisition of a $600,000 piece of veterinary equipment it says is a “dream come true” for animals in its care.
The aquarium says the computed tomography (CT) scanner allows veterinary staff to make earlier diagnoses, more effectively monitor animals’ health, and plan surgeries on-site.
“The advantage of CT is that there are some animals that are especially challenging to image with other typically used diagnostics,” said Dr. Molly Martony, a senior veterinarian at the aquarium. “So there can be limitations to ultrasound or X-rays of certain different species’ anatomy and physiology.”
“So what's really cool is we can look inside things like a clam or a shark in a way that we haven't previously been able to look at them,” Martony said.
Martony said the scanner is precise enough to use on the aquarium’s smallest fish and large enough to scan even some smaller beluga whales. She said previously the aquarium would have to send animals off-site for advanced imaging – including, in some cases, to human health care facilities.
“However, the transport and the use of that is a lot more limited when we have to go somewhere and also be cautious of the human patient schedules at a hospital, and it certainly limits what kind of animals we could take there,” Martony said.
The purchase was made possible via federal appropriation by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Since its installation in October, the aquarium says it’s been used to treat an endangered African penguin for a cloaca blockage, a Kemp’s ridley sea turtle for hypothermia and limited shoulder mobility, and sharks and stingrays for various evaluations.
“This specific technology really helps to advance the understanding of these species and their medical care and ultimately their conservation,” Martony said.
