Goleta company donates state-of-the-art CT scanner to Santa Barbara Zoo
A Goleta company has developed a new CT machine that represents a potential breakthrough in medical care. And animals at the Santa Barbara Zoo are the first patients to try it.
Digital imaging company and manufacturer iCRco has worked on the machine for years before finishing a prototype late last year. Last month, the company donated one of the first prototypes to the Santa Barbara Zoo.
“We really don’t know what we can find or see, but every animal is a new experience,” iCRco founder and CEO Stephen Neushul said. “These are exotic animals. It’s amazing to be part of that.”
iCRco says the machine—called the Claris XT—delivers 3D images that are five times more detailed than average CT machines, while also being smaller, lighter, more mobile and less than half the cost.
The machine can be wheeled around and even plugged into a wall outlet. It can also handle the job of an X-ray machine.
“Instead of having two devices like an X-ray machine and a CT scanner, we have two in one,” lead engineer Raphael Venzin said. “And you do not have to reposition the patient [when switching between the two]. The drum movement will do that for you.”
Neushul said the choice to donate to the Zoo was an easy one.
“I have two little kids and we love the zoo,” Neushul said. “We’re zoo members. And so that’s just an obvious place to go.”
The Zoo has been busy using the scanner, checking animals for abnormalities.
Before the donation, the Zoo would have to take animals to clinics off the property or out of town to get their animals scanned.
Now they can do so on site, allowing them to provide better medical care.
“The 3D capabilities allow us a lot more interpretation of those images and what’s actually going on with the animals,” said Dr. Julie Barnes, Vice President of Animal Care and Health at the Santa Barbara Zoo. “So we can see the bones and all the skeletal system in a 3D composition, so we can really look all the way around the bones.”
Dr. Barnes said the new technology is incredibly helpful, and that the medical team is thankful for the local partnership.
“This partnership has really given us the opportunity to bring advanced imaging technology to the zoo and for the care of our animals,” she said. “So we’re so thankful to have this partnership with [iCRco]. And they’ve been fabulous to work with.”
The machine is FDA approved for animals and humans. iCRco says if all goes well, people could be scanned by the Claris XT at local orthopedic clinics before the end of the year.
