A CT imaging day to remember...

Meeting Kiburi the Western Lowland Gorilla!

It’s not every day we welcome such extraordinary animals on board one of our mobile CT scanners. On the 15th September our team had a truly wild day, scanning some of London Zoo’s most remarkable residents.

The first visitor was “Kiburi”, a magnificent 177kg Western Lowland Gorilla, and our largest patient to date! The 177kg primate had been under observation after contending with recurrent gastrointestinal issues, leading the expert team at London Zoo to decide that they needed to take a closer look at him, with the help of a CT scan and both veterinary and human health specialists.

Before his full health check could take place, Kiburi had to be anaesthetised – which was done with an injection in his upper arm. This seemingly simple procedure took months of planning to achieve, with Kiburi taking part in frequent training with the zookeepers and veterinary nurses, so that he would offer his arm for the anaesthetic to be administered. Once anaesthetised, Kiburi was first given a full cardiology examination before being taken to receive his CT scan. We are delighted to say that the scan, which was focussed on Kiburi’s abdomen, revealed no obvious cause for concern. Watch Kiburi's visit on board our mobile scanner in this amazing video. To read more about Kiburi's story click here.

Also on the list of unique cases for the day were a two-toed sloth, squirrel monkey, Humboldt penguin, big-head turtle, and babirusa pig!