Determining respiratory or circulatory health condition in animals for improved management
First Claim
1. A method for managing at least one animal, comprising:
- imaging at least one lung of a live animal at a feedlot to determine a degree of respiratory damage in the animal;
comparing a first image of the animal'"'"'s lung to at least one other lung image to determine whether the first image indicates active or past disease;
assigning the animal a respiratory damage designation corresponding to the animal'"'"'s degree of respiratory damage;
recording the respiratory damage designation in an electronic database;
associating the respiratory damage designation with a unique identifier for the animal in the electronic database;
entering information relating to the animal into a computer system;
measuring the animal at a processing location and entering first measurement characteristic data into the computer system including at least weight;
determining in the computer system, from at least in part the first measurement characteristic data and the respiratory damage designation, a projected condition for the animal;
determining in the computer system for the animal an estimated time to reach the projected condition; and
selecting at least one aspect of treatment, care, and/or disposition of the animal based on the respiratory damage designation and whether the first image indicates active or past disease.
4 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method and system for managing at least one animal is disclosed. The method can include imaging, such as ultrasound imaging, a lung of a live animal, such as a ruminant animal or bovine animal. The imaging can be performed to determine a degree of respiratory damage from past respiratory illness. After imaging, information regarding respiratory damage can be used to select at least one aspect of the treatment, care or disposition of the animal. For example, the information can be used to select the amount or type of feed provided to the animal at a feedlot. The information also can be used to select how long the animal should be housed at the feedlot prior to slaughter. If an animal is diagnosed with a respiratory illness, information about its degree of respiratory damage from past respiratory illness also can be used to select the appropriate medical treatment or lack of treatment.
156 Citations
30 Claims
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1. A method for managing at least one animal, comprising:
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imaging at least one lung of a live animal at a feedlot to determine a degree of respiratory damage in the animal; comparing a first image of the animal'"'"'s lung to at least one other lung image to determine whether the first image indicates active or past disease; assigning the animal a respiratory damage designation corresponding to the animal'"'"'s degree of respiratory damage; recording the respiratory damage designation in an electronic database; associating the respiratory damage designation with a unique identifier for the animal in the electronic database; entering information relating to the animal into a computer system; measuring the animal at a processing location and entering first measurement characteristic data into the computer system including at least weight; determining in the computer system, from at least in part the first measurement characteristic data and the respiratory damage designation, a projected condition for the animal; determining in the computer system for the animal an estimated time to reach the projected condition; and selecting at least one aspect of treatment, care, and/or disposition of the animal based on the respiratory damage designation and whether the first image indicates active or past disease. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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29. A method for managing at least one animal, comprising:
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imaging at least one lung of a live animal at a feedlot to determine a degree of respiratory damage in the animal; comparing a first image of the animal'"'"'s lung to at least one other lung image to determine whether or not the first image indicates active or past disease; assigning the animal a respiratory damage designation corresponding to the animal'"'"'s degree of respiratory damage; recording the respiratory damage designation in an electronic database; associating the respiratory damage designation with a unique identifier for the animal in the electronic database; selecting at least one aspect of treatment, care, and/or disposition of the animal based on the respiratory damage designation and whether the first image indicates active or past disease; entering information relating to the animal, including location data for the animal for a location or locations occupied by the animal into a computer system, wherein the computer system includes the electronic database; measuring the animal at a processing location and entering first measurement characteristic data into the computer system including at least weight; determining in the computer system, from at least in part the first measurement data and the respiratory damage designation, a projected condition for the animal; selecting the animal for a sort group, which is one of multiple sort groups of animals, wherein the animal is selected for the sort group based at least in part on an estimated time required to reach the projected condition; subsequently diagnosing the animal with an active respiratory disease; determining whether or not to treat the animal for the active respiratory disease, based at least in part on a degree of respiratory damage from past respiratory illness; requesting a trace report form a data trustee; and identifying locations of other identified animals that have comingled with the animal.
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30. A method for managing at least one animal, comprising:
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receiving a live animal at a feedlot; entering information relating to the animal into a computer system, wherein the computer system comprises an electronic database; associating a unique identifier with the animal enabling the computer system to identify the animal and distinguish it from other animals; entering into the computer system location data for the animal for a location or locations occupied by the animal; measuring the animal at a processing location and entering first measurement characteristic data into the computer system including at least weight; imaging at least one lung of the animal to determine a degree of respiratory damage in the animal; comparing an image of the animal'"'"'s lung to at least one other lung image to determine whether or not the image indicates active or past disease; assigning the animal a respiratory damage designation corresponding to the animal'"'"'s degree of respiratory damage; recording the respiratory damage designation in an electronic database; associating the respiratory damage designation with the unique identifier for the animal; determining in the computer system, from at least in part the first measurement characteristic data and the respiratory damage designation, a projected condition for the animal; determining in the computer system for the animal an estimated time required to reach the projected condition; selecting at least one aspect of treatment, care, and/or disposition of the animal based on the respiratory damage designation and whether the first image indicates active or past disease; enabling confidential information to be filtered from data in the computer system, where the confidential information includes at least a previous location identifier; and allowing a user to review a filtered record for the animal from a remote location, where the filtered record includes the animal'"'"'s respiratory damage designation, a location identifier for a present location of the animal, and that the animal occupied a previous location without disclosing the previous location identifier.
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Specification