Testing of a novel cooling boot to deliver continuous digital hypothermia in horses for prevention and treatment of equine laminitis

During the proposed summer research project, the intern will be working together with researchers from the University of Saskatchewan Western College of Veterinary Medicine and a Saskatoon-based engineering company, RMD Engineering. The intern will test the initial prototype of a novel cooling boot intended to reduce and maintain hoof temperature below 10oC (continuous digital hypothermia). This procedure, called cryotherapy, is used in equine veterinary medicine for the prevention and treatment of laminitis. Laminitis is a painful condition in horses and can result in serious, sometimes irreversible, damage to the tissue layer (lamina) that maintains the hoof bone in suspension within the hoof capsule. The initial prototype testing to be completed by the intern will help the partner organization with moving the development of the novel cooling boot forward.

Faculty Supervisor:

Julia Montgomery

Student:

Partner:

RMD Engineering

Discipline:

Life Sciences

Sector:

Manufacturing

University:

University of Saskatchewan

Program: