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What is Metron?
How does a Veterinarian use Metron in his/her
Practice?
Advantages
Sample Applications
Research Applications
What do I need to use Metron?
Can I try it before buying it?
How much does it cost?
Can I get more information on Metron?
How do I get
radiographs into Metron?
Metron is a veterinary PACs system. It is a way to store and organize
images (radiographs, ultrasounds, photos, etc) and has been designed
with the veterinarian or farrier in mind.
The modern Metron is intended for all kinds of images, and allows
the user to add mark-up, make accurate measurements, and to generate
formatted, multi-page reports. It is the best available product
to quickly and easily go from raw images to final reports.
One focus of Metron has been the equine hoof and leg. So, particularly
for equine veterinarians and farriers, Metron will be of interest.
Metron lets you keep track of the feet of your horse(s) by storing
all photos and radiographs you take in a database. Metron guides
you through step-by-step picking key features in the image of the
hoof, and then computes many parameters of the hoof conformation.
It then allows you to compare your horse's feet to a database of
other horses (or to the same horse), by breed, age, and other factors.
Metron-PX provides a scoring system that computes a score (from
0 to 100%) for each hoof image you provide. You can use the default
scoring rule that we provide, or you can customize your own scoring
rule to score the conformation for factors that you believe are
important. There is also a 'free mark-up' capability so you can
add notes and make other measurements in the image. You can print
automatically formatted multi-page reports -- ready to give to your
clients. Metron-PX comes with an e-mail feature* which enables you
to send images, reports, and various information to other parties.
Plain Metron is the "entry level" version of our product.
There are two steps up from Metron: Metron-Pro and Metron-DVM. You
can Learn what is differnt in the 3 versions of Metron on this page.
Use in an Equine Veterinary Practice
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Metron can bring veterinarians more business, help them make more
money, and make their clients happy. See how by reading this article.
Metron can be used for a wide range of applications and situations,
ranging from ongoing health maintenance to pre-purchase exams. Veterinarians
can keep radiographs organized and accessible by storing them on their
computer. With its 'guided mark-up', Metron allows, for instance,
the comparison of changes in angles and other parameters for the same
foot over a period of time. It thus enables the tracking of potential
soundness problems. Veterinarians can customize the scoring rule to
their liking and professional needs . They can also send copies of
their x-rays to their clients with mark-up and comments, thus enabling
them to present their professional opinions in an efficient manner.
Horse owners can maintain a more complete health record of their horse's
feet for documentation purposes. Owners and their veterinarians may
decide that it is advisable to take additional x-rays for preventative
purposes.
Since Metron lets you import any kind of image, it can also be used
to keep track of photos of your horse(s) markings, brands, injuries,
or other image types such as x-rays, ultrasounds, infrared thermographs,
etc. Metron offers 'free mark-up' and e-mail features for these kinds
of images.
Many veterinarians are using Metron as the basis for their "Preventative
Hoof Care Program". They charge clients for a Metron Report
that measures the conformation of their horses' feet. Owners are
(rightfuly) worried about their horses' soundness and are willing
to pay for help. This service can be sold to clients with sound
horses, since it is helpful to have a "baseline" on record
in case problems crop up a year or two down the line.
About 1/3 of our customers are farriers who use Metron to keep
track of their clients' horses feet. Some farriers offer the Metron
hoof-tracking service as an extra service they can sell to their
clients. Farriers also use Metron to keep a record of the state
of a new horse as a means to document (and in some cases protect
themselves) by being able to show where things were when they arrived
and how things have progressed.
Metron has many uses. Illustrative examples of use are suggested
here. If you want to see a few "case
studies" take a look here.
Metron can be used by researchers interested in measuring the hoof
(or other things in images). There are some features in Metron that
allow data to be output to a spreadsheet program (e.g. Excel) so
that one can then compute statistics on the measurements. Papers
have benn appearing in the literature which report results based
on measurements made in Metron. See some of those papers here.
What do
I need to use Metron?
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- A PC running windows (95, 98, NT, 2000, or XP) (more
details)
- A way to get digital pictures --- one of the following:
- Digital camera
- Conventional camera and a scanner
- Conventional camera and a film-developer who can provide
digital images.
- Digital Radiography system or other source of digital images.
- The RDC unit which digitizes film
radiographs.
Can I
try it before buying it?
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Yes. From this website you can either download
Metron now, or, if you have a slow Internet connection, you
can request that we mail you a CD.
In either case, you will get Metron in "Trial Mode". In
Trial Mode, you can use all features of the product, except that
you cannot import your own images. You can only use a set of sample
images (some photos, some X-rays) that we provide. Then, if you
decide you wish to purchase Metron, you can do it right from inside
the product via the Internet. Note that the "Pro Option"
is not a part of the Metron download and is not available to try
in "Trial Mode".
Metron is $399. You can later upgrade to Metron-Pro
for an additional $400. If you are serisous and want everything,
you get Metron-DVM for $1499
and you buy the "Hardware Kit" for $210 so that you have
our blocks and other scales for creating accurately calibrated images.
If you already have Metron with a version number that starts with
"1." or "2." or "3." you can upgrade
to Metron version 4.X for $99.
Can I
get more information on Metron?
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If you wish, you can read the 'Metron User Manual' which is the
same manual which comes with the product. By reading through this,
you'll get a pretty good idea of many of the features of Metron.
To read the manual now, click here.
Also, you can view a "Slide Show" about Metron here!
It's a little out-of -date now -- we'll try to update it soon!
You can read the "Release
Notes" which cover the latest new features and also the
release notes from past
releases to learn more about Metron.
* The e-mail feature has some restrictions, see
the FAQ about "E-mail in Metron" on our support
page.
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