Steinbrenner family CT unit dedicated at UF vet center

Horsewoman Jessica Steinbrenner, general manager of Kinsman Farm in Ocala and daughter of New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, visited Gainesville June 26 to celebrate the dedication of a new CT imaging suite at the University of Florida Veterinary Medical Center.

The Steinbrenner Family CT Imaging Suite was named in honor of the Steinbrenners in appreciation for an $800,000 gift that made construction of the suite possible, providing UF with one of the most powerful tools available for veterinary diagnostics in the southeastern United States.

"The Steinbrenner family feels that the university's veterinary faculty and program are forward-thinking and have the ability to help large animals on a grand scale, all while educating students in this field," Jessica Steinbrenner said.

Housed in the college's large animal hospital, the suite contains an eight-slice, multidetector row Toshiba Acquilion CT unit that allows for rapid imaging with exceptional contrast and spatial resolution.

The UF VMC also has a 1.5 Tesla Toshiba Titan MR unit, which allows veterinarians to obtain highly detailed images in multiple planes of bone and soft tissue in all species. Foot, fetlock, suspensory ligaments, carpus, hock and heads are regions capable of being examined through MR in the horse.Multidetector row CT is often used for rapid evaluation of the skull and distal extremities. It is especially helpful in characterizing complex fractures using multiplanar reformatting techniques and 3-dimensional reconstructions. In small animals, both imaging tools are routinely applied to neurologic and orthopedic cases at the VMC, with additional studies performed for radiation planning and metastasis evaluations.

"Diagnostic imaging is an extremely important part of patient care," said Matthew Winter, D.V.M., an assistant professor of radiology at UF's VMC. "Advanced imaging allows for more accurate diagnosis and better therapeutic management. The Steinbrenners' generous gift allows us to image rapidly and accurately, and all of our patients benefit from this technology."