About
About this site, and about me
I'm Chris Weaver, a husband, father, veterinary technician and imaging specialist. I've been in the veterinary field for 20 years and have worked with many different CT systems in specialty and general practice settings. Today I'm the National Imaging Manager at Patterson Veterinary.
How I got here
My love of dogs brought me to veterinary medicine. Running a CT gave me a passion for bringing technology and medicine together to improve the lives of animals.
Technology has been part of my life since I was 15, when my first internship was helping teachers bring it into their classrooms. Before I joined the veterinary field, I trained people to use technology in their daily lives and built websites for non-profits.
Why I built it
Most hospitals buy one CT in their lifetime. The people selling it do this every week. I wanted a place where a vet could work out what they need first, in plain language, and then go talk to vendors.
Where I stand
I work for Patterson, and Patterson sells imaging equipment. This site is my own project. It is not an official Patterson Companies website.
I built Patterson's imaging portfolio and chose the vendor I believe is best in each category. Even so, a Patterson system is not always the right fit. Here you will find information on nearly every CT built in the last 20 years.
How I get to a recommendation
I look at five things, in this order:
The medicine
Which cases, which patients, what you need the images to answer.
The workflow
How many scans a week, who runs the scanner, who reads the studies.
The building
Room size, the path in, power, shielding, cooling.
Living with it
Training, service, parts, and what happens on a bad day.
The money
Budget, financing, and whether the caseload supports the payment.
Facts and opinions
Specifications come from the manufacturers' current documents. The scores and rankings are my opinion, based on what I've seen work in veterinary hospitals. A high score means a good fit for what you told me, not that a scanner is the best one made.
A brand new 640-slice CT may score very low if you are a GP with no space for a larger unit. Conversely, a small, portable CBCT will rank high if you are a dentist with no dedicated CT space.
What this site can't do
It can't replace a radiologist, a physicist, your architect or a written quote. Room and ROI numbers here are for planning purposes only. Confirm them before you build or sign.
What happens to what you send me
When you fill in a form or sign up for the newsletter, your answers are stored in my database so I can reply and remember our conversation. Please don't send me anything you don't want me to keep.