Equine Mounted Respiratory Endoscope
On average 34% of racehorses suffer from some sort of respiratory condition which can severely affect performance and is unlikely to be identified through static endoscopy. Dynamic endoscopic examinations can be performed by exercising the horse on a treadmill whilst the endoscope is fitted. However this is time-consuming, costly and can be dangerous.
The Equine Mounted Respiratory Endoscope (EMRE) can be used to perform dynamic endoscopy with or without a rider, indoors or out. The key advantage of EMRE is that it can be taken to the horse and diagnosis of previously undiscovered conditions can be carried out rapidly.
The EMRE is an ergonomic pad which the horse wears over their own saddle pad. This pad has pockets which house the components needed to perform dynamic endoscopy. As the horse is being exercised video footage of their airway is recorded, and can also be transmitted live to a second unit to be viewed in real time.
1.Endoscope is inserted into horse's airway and connected to the EMRE
2.Video of the horse's airway can be viewed when the endoscope is inserted and whilst the horse is exercised
3.A memory card with the recorded data is removed and viewed for diagnosis
I have recently become interested in specialising in medical/veterinary product design and have always had a love of horses; so it was appealing to be able to combine these two interests throughout this project. I hope to continue to design within these fields after graduating.
