In-House Diagnostics - Olney-Sandy Spring Veterinary Hospital

See Beneath The Surface

Advanced diagnostics saves lives.

In-House Diagnostics

At OSSVH we use state-of-the-art equipment in order to have the best diagnostic tools available to take excellent care of your pet. Our in-house laboratory, radiology services and diagnostic ultrasound allow us to quickly diagnose problems and treat your pet accordingly.

In-House Laboratory

OSSVH maintains a complete in-house laboratory to help diagnose your pet's medical problems. The lab equipment enables our staff to conduct complete blood counts, which indicate numbers of red and white blood cells and allow us to monitor for anemia or infection. Our blood chemistry machine measures enzymes and can be used to evaluate organ function, including kidney and liver function. Additional lab equipment includes machines to determine your pet's electrolyte values and to measure reproductive hormones, such as progesterone. Our state-of-the-art equipment provides information that helps aid our staff in proper diagnosis, treatment, and medication recommendations.

Digital Radiology

OSSVH utilizes digital X-ray, which rapidly produces images of various parts of your pet's anatomy. Digital radiography reduces both the time and exposure to X-ray radiation relative to old cassette and film technique. This minimizes the risk of X-ray exposure to the pet and the technician and greatly reduces the time of processing. Images are ready to be viewed in seconds. Once these images are obtained, they can be enhanced to improve diagnostic quality. Images are then electronically transmitted to our board-certified radiologist for evaluation. A board-certified veterinary radiologist reviews all of our diagnostic radiographs in order to provide the best possible evaluation. Radiographic studies can also be electronically shared with other specialists in the case of referral.

Digital Dental Radiography

In addition to full body digital X-ray equipment, we also operate a digital dental X-ray machine for dental procedures and do screening full mouth radiographs on every dental cleaning. This allows high definition evaluation of the mouth in order to identify tooth fractures, periodontal disease, tooth resorptive lesions, retained teeth or tooth roots and oral masses.

Diagnostic Ultrasound

Ultrasound technology uses sound waves to create digital images of internal structures. This is a non-invasive procedure that can provide valuable information about internal organs in the abdomen or chest. Other structures such as muscles and eyes can also be imaged to evaluate various problems. At OSSVH, we utilize a state-of-the-art ultrasound machine providing us with excellent image quality. The images are permanently stored and can be electronically transferred for radiologist's or specialist's review or for cases to be referred to a specialist.

Specialized imaging services save lives

Images can also be copied to disc or thumb drive and shared with the client. We use our ultrasound for a variety purposes, including:

Screening health and functioning of internal organs
Guided biopsy and needle aspirate procedures
Guided collection of urine from the bladder (cystocentesis)
Pregnancy diagnosis and fetal health
Evaluation of reproductive organs for breeding soundness
Rapid evaluation of the abdomen in emergent situations
Cancer screening