Correction: The phrase "sticking a pipe" should have been "placing a self-expanding metallic stent." For clarification, there are more schools that teach the procedure than MSU, and the special funds do not apply to intervention radiology.
Name: Matthew Beal, assistant professor
Department: Small Animal Clinical Sciences
Date of method: Beal has been working with the new procedure for about a year.
Type of method: Interventional radiology
Basics of method: "It allows us to treat animals in a less invasive way," Beal said.
The methodology allows veterinarians to perform procedures on animals without them having large incisions.
Some small-breed dogs can get tracheal collapse when the cartilage in their windpipes begins to collapse, Beal said. This used to be treated surgically but it can now be treated by sticking a pipe down the dog's throat and using a woven tube to keep the pipe open.
Cancer also can be treated through interventional radiology. It may not cure the cancer but provides a non-surgical way to help prolong the animal's life, Beal said.
Other health issues that can be helped with the minimally invasive surgeries include urinary tract problems and more.
Social impact of method: "Minimally invasive surgeries have fewer complications and quicker recoveries," Beal said. "The whole goal is to treat animals optimally, allowing them to return to functioning quicker, to return to their families in a more timely fashion."
Although the procedures are better for animals, the equipment can make it more expensive, Beal said. A company called Infiniti Medical is adapting human products for veterinary use and is working with MSU veterinarians to make the equipment less expensive. This causes the procedures to be more cost-effective for families.
MSU veterinarians are always looking for doctors of human medicine who have a love for animals to help develop technology for animals, Beal said.
The methods that are found to work for animals could possibly be used on humans after they are tested, Beal said.
Difficulties of method: "Some of the techniques are very challenging," Beal said. "If it was done inappropriately, it could very easily cause harm to patients when delivering materials that need to be delivered."
These procedures call for very precise techniques, Beal said. If veterinarians are delivering chemotherapy to a certain area of an animal's body and they deliver it to an incorrect area, the animal could be harmed.
Weird/unknown fact: For students interested in veterinary medicine, the procedure is something they can only learn at MSU, Beal said. "We are sending them out there with the knowledge that these technologies do exist," he said. "They can try to identify new ways to treat patients. It is an exciting, innovative new area some of our students will be trained in."
Beal is in a fellowship program with the University of Pennsylvania, where he is training for the procedures.
Funding for method: Everything is paid for by the patient's family, Beal said. There are different funds set up, such as funds for animals caught in house fires and for low-income families.
