Indy veterinarians first in the state to use AI in pet X-rays

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) – Some veterinarians say artificial intelligence could be the future of pet health with a new technology that is changing how doctors look at pet X-rays.

Pet Wellness Clinics, which has a number of locations in Indianapolis, is the first clinic in the state to use what’s called the SignalRAY technology.

The technology out of San Diego operates much like a regular X-ray does. The animal is placed on the table and a digital scan is taken. SignalRAY is built with AI that can interpret 50 radiographic markers or abnormalities.

There are three main panels the technology can read including thorax, abdomen, and skeleton.

Dr. Kerry Peterson with the clinic says those 50 markers make up at least half of the most common problems she sees.

Once the scan is taken, it’s sent to the facility in San Diego and results are displayed back in Indianapolis within minutes.

Dr. Peterson says this AI helps her treat pets in two ways. First, it allows doctors to make faster decision reducing the time to life saving care. And second, it provides a second set of eyes which Dr. Peterson says makes pet owners feel more confident.

“If we find we’re looking at a thorax and we see this pet has spine arthritis, that machine learning will pick that up when we may have overlooked it if we were concentrating on the chest. So there are some incidental things that the machine learning will pick up on,” said Dr. Peterson.

SignalRAY will get smarter the more it’s used. It will learn to pick up new markers that can go beyond the 50 it’s currently capable of.

“So that means the more pets we scan, we could help save more animals in the future,” Dr. Peterson added.