A non -invasive method for the detection of damage and changes in the hoof capsul

Conference poster, 2014

A non-invasive method for the detection of damage and changes in the hoof capsule Maria Sundin1, Magnus Karlsteen2,Andrey Sizov3, Björn Berg4, Arne Rosén1, Henrik Otterberg5, Åsa Hinton4, Mattias Gustavsson3 1: Dept. of Physics, University of Gothenburg) 2: Department of Applied Physics, Chalmers University of Technology 3: Hot Disk AB (Sweden) 4: Ale Animal Hospital 5: Hot Disk Medical AB (Sweden) Corresponding author: maria.sundin@physics.gu.se Horses may suffer from the presence of abscesses, cracks and keratomes in the hooves. This project is a feasibility study to investigate if existing material sensors can be used as a non-invasive, non-destructive method to help veterinaries/farriers getting a better knowledge of: 1. the exact location and extent of abscesses 2. the depth and length of cracks 3. the size of keratomes. The method is based on the ability of the hoof to conduct heat Utilizing the Hot Disk Sensors and method developed in ISO22007-2, with a novel computational procedure, the variations of thermal conductivity versus depth from a surface can be measured. Sub-surface structural variations can be monitored in a non-destructive manner. Applications can be found in a range of areas. For instance, verifying homogeneity of structure versus depth. The sensor, and its holder, has approximately the shape and size of a stethoscope. It is thus an object that a farrier/veterinary can handle with ease. An area of about one square inch of the hoof is heated 1-2 degrees with a single step-wise heat pulse. The thermal depth of probing follows a relationship: 𝑑=2𝑎𝑡, Where d represents the thermal depth of probing (from the sensor position into the hoof), a represents the weighted average of the thermal diffusivity of the hoof (from the surface position to the position d), and t represents test time. Hence, the depth position can be determined for the different time positions. A typical time for measuring to a depth of 10 mm in a hoof capsule is 160 seconds. So far, tests in laboratory environment have established that the existing equipment works on the material that a hoof capsule consists of. Tests have been done on hoof capsules from dead horses, 3D-printed model hooves and the hooves of one live horse at a veterinary clinic. All results are reproducible. Results show the curve of the thermal conductivity versus depth changing when the heat flow reaches a place where there is an inhomogeneity in the hoof. To conclude, tests indicate the method being able to detect inhomogeneities in hooves. Further measurements will be needed to show the exact response of different problems in the hooves. LP The method offers a possible new non-invasive, non-destructive method of finding the position and extent of abscesses, cracks and other inhomogeneities in hooves. The technique is well established in other areas of material studies, and based on the analysis of thermal convection and diffusion.