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January 2005

State-of-the-Art Facilities and Renovations Enhance Equine Orthopaedic Research

New facilities and equipment at Colorado State University's Orthopaedic Research Center are helping to advance research in osteoarthritis and cartilage repair for the benefit of horses and humans alike. The Center now includes the renovated Orthopaedic Research Laboratory, with the first equine-dedicated, high-field Magnetic Resonance Imaging Center in the United States, and the Gail Holmes Equine Orthopaedic Research Center, which includes an advanced surgical suite.

Equine MRI Center

MRI is the highest standard for producing images of human joints and the best technique for non-invasively assessing a joint. The equine MRI facility at CSU will concentrate on both clinical research and clinical cases, with projects focusing on osteoarthritis and cartilage repair.

"With our new facilities and equipment, we can diagnose injuries we could never diagnose before," said Dr. Natasha Werpy, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Clinical Sciences. "We plan on sharing the results of our research to enhance the diagnosis of injury and develop improved treatment."

MRI allows veterinarians to see fluid in bone and see soft tissues, not possible with x-rays. MRI also can make diagnoses using multi-planner imaging which displays an image in different angles and reformats images, producing two images in different angles taken from a single image.

"Using both basic research and equine clinical patient studies, we will be able to discover new ways to advance early diagnosis of bone and joint disease, better methods of treatment and a better understanding of how exercise-induced traumatic disease occurs," said Dr. Wayne McIlwraith, director of the Orthopaedic Research Center. "The focus of our program is preventing or minimizing osteoarthritis in horses, and our MRI capabilities will greatly facilitate this goal."

In 2003, the Walton Family Foundation gave a $2.5 million gift to Colorado State to build the new facilities, support equine reproduction and orthopaedic research, and fund several positions during the duration of the five-year grant. Virginia and Kim Atkinson purchased the MRI for the new facilities.

In addition to the renovated Orthopaedic Research Laboratory, the Gail Holmes Equine Orthopaedic Center was built to house state-of-the-art surgical suites with induction and recovery room facilities, a visitor/reception center, a conference room with a view into the surgery room, administrative offices, a new high-speed treadmill, and 32 deluxe horse stalls with automatic temperature control, pest management systems and a card-controlled security system.