Dr. Matt Schaefer and Dairyland Veterinary Service began using Metron in May 2011.  Because it was becoming more difficult to develop conventional radiographic films due to availability of developers, Dr. Schaefer knew it was time to switch to the digital format. In the two months since he has been working with Metron, "...it has already paid for 20% of the investment cost."

Dr. Schaefer is involved in all aspects of large animal veterinary medicine but has special interests in equine preventative medicine, nutrition, and equine dentistry.  He travels all over Northeast Wisconsin providing specialized dental maintenance for competitive and pleasure horses. 

In July 2011, he provided us with details of how he had been using Metron.  He had been utilizing many Metron features including hoof and stifle analysis. He stated, "With Metron, I am getting some of the best stifle images I have ever seen and the Metron Guided Mark-Up for the Hoof is very accurate leaving no doubts.  With the comfort of knowing this accuracy, it is a great aid to help me diagnose what needs to be done for the horse."   He works a lot with quarter horses and they have many hoof problems.  Metron has helped with finding the correct type of shoes needed to allow more blood flow to the hoof.  He performs venograms on some of these horses and Metron provides excellent image quality for the evaluation process.  

The halter horse, "Kat" had bad laminitis and was pregnant. The medial portion of the coffin bone had sunk into the right front foot capsule and due to lack of blood flow; the heel was abscessing out on a continual basis. A venogram was done and corrective shoeing was applied to allow the foot to recover. With the help of the radiographic images from Metron, he was able to stop the abscess and the feet were corrected. The medial- lateral imbalance was resolved after one year of corrective trimming and shoeing and she is doing great.  She also had a foal that was sold.

Metron allows him to place multiple images side by side using the morph capability to see the improvements in a computer generated video. 

Dr. Schaefer teams up with a number of farriers in his area.  The Metron features have allowed him to provide more detailed and confident treatment instruction to the farriers.  Another useful feature is the Metron Reports which he and his farrier partners are able to produce and provide to owners. He says the reports are a "big deal" and allow everything to be documented so everyone (he, the farrier and the owner) is on the same page when it comes to what is needed for the animal. In addition, Dr. Schaefer states, "I am not a computer expert - the software is well done.  Metron is so user friendly - all you have to do is use your brain and just follow the built-in prompts." 

The mission of Dairyland Veterinary Service is to be the best provider of Bovine and Equine Ambulatory and consultation services through exceptional services, increasing and sharing their knowledge base and providing progressive services with set goals and plans to exceed their client expectations while always acting as a team.  After a year and a half, Metron continues to helps them meet their goal of providing exceptional services.

Well - like anything new - it depends on what the "new" can do and why you need it.

Windows 8 is a complete change for Microsoft.  You may have noticed that their new interface is consistent across all major hardware platforms - phones, tablets and computers.  This new Windows 8  is designed as a touch-screen interface for the consumer.  

A touch screen oriented interface by itself is not a bad thing, but this new Windows 8 is a big change from its older brother Windows 7.   If you have been using Windows 7 for a while or even the older Windows XP, you will be facing a big navigation change with Windows 8.

We have tested Metron with Windows 8 and it does work.  But that is just the beginning.  The "Operating System" (Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows XP) is the communicator between software and hardware.  Often the company that makes hardware (printers, scanners, X-Ray devices) will create and supply a "Driver" program that the Operating System uses to talk with that hardware.  When Metron says it needs to do something with the hardware, it is actually telling that to the Operating System.  This is important to know because a piece of hardware that works fine with Windows 7 may not work fine with Windows 8.   Often the hardware company is months behind in their own testing and "driver software" development.  

Typical and very wise business practice is to stick with the incumbent version of Windows (Windows 7). Though most electronics retail stores have now switched their computer offerings to Windows 8, business computer outlets will continue to offer Windows 7 as an option for another year or better.  Dell computer offers laptops and desktops with Windows 7 and will continue to do so for at least another year or two.

December 1-5, 2012 

Anaheim, CA

Begin your plans to join Metron Imaging and Metron Support Services at AAEP this year. Click here  to view program details that are currently planned for this event. It is a long list so highlight what is important to you to achieve the most benefits. Metron will be located in Booth 515!

We hope to see you in Anaheim!

 You have the ability to overlay a "Grid" (dashed or solid lines) on an image while in single-image view mode.  Just mark the Grid check box.  This check box allows you to view the image with or without the Grid lines. 

If you want to save a copy of the image with the Grid lines, click the  "Save As" button on the bottom of the tool bar.  You are also able to view the grid in Full Screen ("FS" button) or in Magnifier mode.

The Metron Web-Viewer has become very popular with many of you, easily sharing images with others.  In addition to going to the Web-Viewer by typing in the address in your internet browser, you can quickly open the the Web-Viewer from within Metron.  Just click "Advanced" on the Metron Main Menu bar and select "Jump to Web-Viewer".