Background: The importance of a tailored diagnosis and a fast understanding of the functional
interdependencies of the clinical findings is proving increasingly important in physical
and rehabilitative medicine (PRM).
Materials and Methods: The standardized physical functional examination used to develop a digitalized body
map in dogs is based on a compilation of various established veterinary evaluation
methods. Qualitative and semiquantitative palpation findings were visualized in a
digital 2D body map using seven colour-encoding. The body map gave an overview of
the actual affected musculoskeletal regions and helped to make further diagnostic
and therapeutic decisions, for example, body maps of medial patellar luxation ([Fig. 1]) and lumbosacral syndrome that were further processed with artificial intelligence
(AI).
Fig. 1 (A) Dog diagnosed with medial patellar luxation grade 1, left side worse than right;
(B) Digital body map.
Results: The presented physical functional examination and its visualization in a body map
gave a fast overview of the affected musculoskeletal regions. It helped to ease communication
with the surgeon, PRM team and the pet owner to design an interdisciplinary diagnostic
and therapeutic plan, delegate the chosen steps to others, as well as to monitor the
clinical progression.
Conclusion: Body maps visualize clinical findings and ease veterinarian workflow. The encoded
information processed with AI may supply the veterinarian with medical information
and/or diagnostic/therapeutic suggestions.
