The ultrasound equipment that is made at SonoSite is used to scan humans as well as animals.  Veterinarians are learning to use ultrasound because it is a quick, painless way to "look" into an animal to get information to help them decide what needs to be done to treat the animal.  
   Last year I took some classes and subjected my own cats and the neighbor puppy to me scanning them because I was optimizing a transducer that is used by veterinarians on small animals, and I needed to learn the appearance of animal anatomy so I could get the settings correct. Ultrasound is not well established in the veterinary market, so there are only a few people who are good at it, and I was begining to learn. 
   PAWS is a non profit organization dedicated to animal welfare.  A veterinarian at PAWS, Dr. Huckabee, contacted SonoSite and requested a donation of an ultrasound system for use in his practice.  When I called Dr. Huckabee, he was eager to learn about ultrasound and I was eager to learn what he could teach me, so it was a win/win relationship, and we set up a meeting.  I oriented Dr. Huckabee to the ultrasound machine, and he showed me what his needs were.  He works in wildlife, not companion animals (like dogs and cats).  He sees a lot of birds that people bring in injured, squirrels, bears, deer, racoons, cyotes,and any wild animal that lives in the northwest.  The first day we scanned a bird and a squirrel that were already dead.  It was hard to orient to the anatomy because the beating heart is a landmark, plus birds anatomy is VERY different than humans!  Dr. Huckabee did a necropsy on the bird after we scanned to "open him up" to show me where the anatomy was located.  This was a very unique experience, very cool.  
   My objective was to learn what I could, and to convince SonoSite to donate a system to PAWS.  Dr. Huckabee and I agreed that it would be easier for SonoSite to justify a donation if they could get some valuable publicity from it and some pictures to put on our veterinary web site that show the ultrasound system being used to treat animals.
    When Dr. Huckabee contacted me again, he had a baby bear that had been brought in with a severe leg injury.  The bear had been brought in by a motorist who found him by the roadside and caught him in a net.  He was dangerously underweight at 23 pounds (Dr. Huckabee said he should have weighed 80 pounds) and the bones were sticking out of his infected leg wound.  The bears leg joint was not moving and if he didn't get better, he could not survive in the wild and would have to be euthanized. Dr. Huckabee wondered if I could bring an ultrasound machine in because they were going to anesthetise the bear and try to clean out the wound and free up the hip joint so it could heal and move freely. The local news channel 4 was contacted, and a short story about the bear aired that night on the 5:00 news.  Dr. Huckabee worked long and hard and after 3 hours of surgery, removed a bone fragment that was stuck in the bear's hip joint.
   The bear has been growing and healing, and is now ready to be released into the wild.  Dr. Huckabee called me last week to invite me to take one of the few spots available on the caravan that will transport the bear to the release site.  I am thrilled to be able to witness this special event and will take pictures if they are allowed.  Next Wednesday at 9:00 I will be at PAWS to prepare for the crating of the bear.  I hear he is very big now.  
   My most recent visit to PAWS was a couple of months ago when Dr. Huckabee called to say he had a pregnant racoon brought in.  She had been hit by a car and was in a coma.  He wanted to know if her babies were alive inside, because if they were, he was thinking of delivering them by c-section if they were close enough to full term.  I got an ultrasound system and went right over.  We scanned the racoon mama and saw 3 living babies.  Dr. Huckabee delivered all 3 healthy babies (2 boys and a girl).  The Mama lived for several weeks and nursed the babies, but she did not improve because of a severe head injury.  She had to be euthanized, but the babies are still thriving and will also be released when they are ready.  I will get to see them on Wednesday too.
   These are some of the unique and wonderful experiences I have been lucky enough to have.  I wish I could continue building relationships with the wonderful people I have known.  They have made my life so interesting and fun.