History & Philosophy

History

In 2000, Drs. Richard Joseph and Jason Berg began a neurology consultation service at County Animal Specialty Group (CASG) in Yonkers, NY. Inspired by the desire to provide the best possible neuro-imaging for dogs and cats referred to them, Rick and Jason began offering MRIs at a local "human" facility in the evenings. When it became apparent that offering MRIs on-site was much better for the animals, they considered sharing a mobile MRI unit with other veterinary referral centers.

As a result of these efforts, Animal MR expanded their MRI services at CASG to four additional referral hospitals: Garden State Veterinary Specialists in Tinton Falls, New Jersey; Veterinary Referral Centre in Norwalk, Connecticut; Shoreline Veterinary Referral Center in Shelton Connecticut; and Ocean State Veterinary Specialists in East Greenwich, Rhode Island. In January 2008, Drs. Joseph and Berg moved their neurology practice from CASG and were joined by other specialists and emergency doctors at their new facility, the Animal Specialty Center (www.animalspecialtycenter.com ) in Yonkers, NY. Consulting Radiologists for Animal MR are Dr. Joseph Stefanacci and Dr. Russell Tucker.

Philosophy

Animal MR operates based on two fundamental principles: excellent service and exceptional quality MRI images.

Excellent service means that veterinary specialists have easy access to the MRI on-site. Our philosophy is driven by our experience that the specialist managing the case is in the best position to oversee the patient's MRI. The MRI scan can be specifically tailored to the patient's signs while the specialist previews the results of each scan sequence performed on that patient in real-time. This is not possible when the scan is conducted off-site and the specialist managing the case is not present. Consequently, off-site MRI scans may not be as efficient and cannot be easily repeated due to anesthetic constraints and expense. On-site MRI service performed by Animal MR keeps the specialist in control and allows him/her to make decisions in the best interest of patients.

Animal MR's machines are dedicated solely to MRI studies of animal patients performed during regular referral hospital hours and don't need to rush the process. Animal MRI uses only high field magnets that are the same computer software platform at those performed on humans. In contrast to veterinary MRI machines which are marketed to be more automated but have distinct limitations include longer scan times and inferior quality images.Superior quality is achieved with our leading-edge MRI machines (click here for details), and our experienced MRI technologists. Each technician works in conjunction with, and under the direct supervision of, the veterinary specialist to optimally perform this sophisticated diagnostic procedure.