Bovine Lung Ultrasound UK

22/12/2025

The Elf was sacked by human resources, something to do with a reindeer, but we can't let Christmas pass without wishing all our followers a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from the calf shed. (Courtesy Priory Vets)

28/11/2025

Here we have a nice video from early TUS adopter Ian McDonald Academy Vets showing some severe lung damage in a young calf. Showing a full lobe consolidation of the right cranial aspect of the cranial lobe. Second video appears to be a pleural effusion related to an area of consolidation. Thanks for sending these in Ian!

28/11/2025

Here we have some interesting videos from early TUS adopter Ian McDonald Academy Vets showing some severe lung damage in a young calf. Showing a full lobe consolidation of the right cranial aspect of the cranial lobe. Second video appears to be a pleural effusion related to an area of consolidation. Thanks for sending these in Ian!

08/10/2025

I have attached a great new paper just published by George Lindley et al from the RVC - looking at and discussing the different ways TUS is undertaken and scored. Unfortunately there is no one ‘gold standard’ method for undertaking TUS and scoring lesions. As use of this technique increases, it is important to aim for consistency here. We generally use the ‘6 grade system’ described by Ollivett et al, however I am starting to move towards a more simplified system as described by Jourquin which classifies lessons

Ultrasonography of the bovine lung is a noninvasive technique allowing recognition of lower respiratory tract lesions and differentiation from disease limited to the upper respiratory tract. Techniqu...

10/09/2025

Just got home from a fab day at UK Dairy Day - always great to connect with friends and colleagues. Particularly great to see Duarte from Shropshire Farm Vets demonstrating TUS on real calves throughout the day. Big group of interested farmers at the sessions and lots of questions! Most large GB farm practices seem to be offering this service now which is amazing to see.
We are happy to review any photos/video people have so do send in your interesting finds to us!

27/05/2025

We received this video from some vets who have just started using TUS and were looking for a bit of help with interpretation!
They were worried about the findings at 0-6 seconds and 19 seconds onwards.
Is this normal? What would you advise?

16/04/2025

Hi everyone, once the busy season of lambing and calving are over, its a great opportunity to get on farm and practice some TUS! The ideal age to scan calves is 4-8 weeks as this is when you are most likely to find lesions, as the high surface area to volume ratio of the lung means its likely lesions will be adjacent to the pleural surface and therefore can be picked up by ultrasound. This is also when calves are most vulnerable to BRD as their MDA levels drop and management changes such as weaning often occur.
Please enjoy this AI-generated image of an unusually attractive cattle vet performing TUS on farm, points to those who can find the errors!

07/01/2025

06/01/2025

Happy New Year! Hope everyone has DO MORE TUS on their new years resolution list?!
To kick off here's a video and photo from a farm we visited before Christmas. The calves were given an IN RSV/PI-3 vaccine from the first day of age and respiratory issues were mostly under control, however they were having a big issue with scours and we recommended dam vaccination for rota/corona/E.coli & crypto as well as some other changes to the environment (clean, dry bedding) and hygiene of feeding utensils. The lungs were pretty clean on scanning with no full lobe consolidations seen. A couple of calves had lesions similar to (mostly smaller than) the one in this video. Here you can see a lobular lesion of around 2cm diameter (grid squares are 1cm) which was found in the caudal aspect of the right cranial lobe (just behind the heart which you can see at the end of the video. Calves with scours are much more prone to BRD so it pays off to get both issues under control.
Any questions post below!

19/12/2024

Due to industrial action by The Elf we have made an alternative Christmas Post. Guest appearances by Dr. Terri Ollivett, UW-Madison, Becci Harrison Peakfield Farm Vets, Kat & Sara, MSD Veterinary Advisors, Jimmy More. You all know Terri and her TUS work. Becci contributed a case study on the use of TUS on farm. The rest you may have met at various teaching days. Let us take this opportunity to thank all those involved in contributing case studies and data on the use of TUS.

18/12/2024

We have a major issue with the Elf. HR have been consulted.

09/12/2024

Sorry about the sound quality. We got the tail end of the recent storm. Poly tunnel 2 is up and both survived 80 mph gusts. Surprisingly warm inside. Lots of staw. All good nesting scores.