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How Kinkle the Elephant became a test case for the use of Infrared Thermography was quite by chance. After reading an article on the use of the technology on an injured Indian Elephant at a Vancouver Zoo, Mr. Rory Paul, of Phosphor Technologies, a locally based Preventative Maintenance provider, passed the article to Dr. Matt Hartley, the head of Johannesburg Zoo’s Veterinary Hospital. It just so happened that Kinkle the Zoo’s large male Elephant had an injured leg with a very swollen elbow.
Without delay Dr. Hartley and Rory Paul proceeded to survey Kinkle with an Infrared Camera (Imaging Radiometer) that can “see” in the infrared spectrum and calculate an object’s temperatures extremely accurately between -40 and 2000 degrees Celsius. Mostly used for industrial inspection of electrical, mechanical and structural systems this was the first time that Phosphor Technologies and the Zoo had had an opportunity to apply this technology as a diagnostic tool to assist a live animal patient. The beauty of using highly sensitive infrared camera is that it is a “passive” sensor and does not emit any potentially harmful radiation, it is also “real” time in so far as the animal need not be sedated to immobilise it, which is extremely difficult with large animals.
Instantly it became apparent that Kinkle’s leg although swollen at the elbow had a major “hotspot” at the ankle caused by blood surging to the effected area.
The cause of the injury was not known but it was surmised that the pachyderm had injured the leg slipping on frosty ground. Dr Hartley had already placed Kinkle on a course of anti-inflammatory medicine and now it was time to see how he responded.
After a week of treatment it was time to “scan” Kinkle again, and the proof was in the images. He had responded very well to the anti-inflammatory medicine cunningly administered in loaves of bread. This time his elbow and ankle did not exhibit the areas of major temperature difference.
Although the use of Thermography is not new to veterinary medicine it is not wide spread due to the expense of the equipment although it is gaining inroads in the treatment of race horses. Kinkle’s case shows how dynamic Infrared Imaging is and how far it has developed from a military technology
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