The role of thermography in the management of equine lameness

Equine thermography has increased in popularity recently because of improve ments in thermal cameras and advances in image-processing software. The bas ic principle of thermography involves the transformation of surface heat fr om an object into a pictorial representation. The colour gradients generate d reflect differences in the emitted heat. Variations from normal can be us ed to detect lameness or regions of inflammation in horses. Units can be so sensitive that flexor tendon injuries can be detected before the horse dev elops clinical lameness. Thermography has been used to evaluate several dif ferent clinical syndromes not only in the diagnosis of inflammation but als o to monitor the progression of healing. Thermography has important applica tions in research for the detection of illegal performance-enhancing proced ures at athletic events. (C) 2001 Harcourt Publishers Ltd.