UC Davis unveils a new diagnostic imaging center

Photos courtesy of UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine

An avian patient gets prepared to be scanned in the small animal CT machine at the All Species Imaging Center in California.

A new veterinary facility has opened at the University of California-Davis (UC Davis). The All Species Imaging Center is designed to be a central hub for advanced diagnostic imaging at the UC Davis William R. Pritchard Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital (VMTH), according to the university.¹

The new center consists of 4 diagnostic imaging suites, 2 control rooms, a patient waiting room, a room used by radiologists for image interpretation, and staff office spaces. Each of the imaging suites have a unique purpose and house advanced technology as follows¹:

• Computed tomography (CT) for small animals
• High field magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for small and large animals
• Positron emission tomography (PET) and CT for small and large animals
• Large bore equine CT.

The large animal CT scanner is used with an equine patient.

The new MRI machine has replaced an older scanner that was used by the university for about 25 years. The CT scanner for small animals replaces a machine that was used by the VMTH for 15 years, according to the university.¹

"With these advanced scanners, we have been able to image areas of animals that we had never been able to scan before, such as the lumbar spine of horses and cows, the pelvis and stifles of horses, a full equine cervical spine, and the abdomen of a llama," Mathieu Spriet, DVM, MS, DACVR, DECVDI, DACVR-EDI, director of Imaging Services at the VMTH, said in a news release.¹ "We believe this to be the best veterinary imaging facility on the West Coast and one of the top veterinary imaging facilities in the world."

The diagnostic imaging facility is also a home to the university’s advanced radiology training program. In this space, a dozen veterinary residents are trained by 8 board-certified radiologists.¹

The veterinary hospital at UC Davis is accredited by the American Animal Hospital Association. It is the main hospital in a university network that includes the UC Veterinary Medical Center in San Diego, and the UC Veterinary Medicine Teaching & Research Center in Tulare.² The opening of the imaging center marks a milestone in the planned expansion of the veterinary medicine complex that will allow the university to eventually increase the student capacity from 600 to 800 individuals and help ease a veterinarian shortage in the region.³

“We know that there are people every day that want to come for our care, and we can't fit them in,” Mark Stetter, DVM, DACZM, dean of the School of Veterinary Medicine, said in a KCRA 3 news report.³ “The expansion allows us to train more students. It allows us to take care of more animals, and it allows us to do more of our groundbreaking research.”

Expansion of the veterinary medicine complex is expected to continue with multiple new facilities that will enable the university to provide care annually to approximately 20,000 more animals. Future structures planned as additions to the complex include a veterinary education pavilion, a primary care hospital, an equine hospital, a cancer center, a spay-neuter clinic, and a raptor center, according to the KCRA 3 report.³ 

References

1. Warren R. UC Davis opens All Species Imaging Center. News release. University of California-Davis. September 17, 2025. Accessed September 19, 2025. https://www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/news/uc-davis-opens-all-species-imaging-center
2. William R. Pritchard Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital. UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine. Accessed September 19, 2025. https://www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/hospital
3. Denyer LA. UC Davis veterinary school undergoes major expansion, increasing capacity and addressing veterinary shortage. KCRA 3. September 18, 2025. Accessed September 19, 2025. https://www.kcra.com/article/uc-davis-veterinary-school-major-expansion/67954651