Visualization and Measurement of Teat Structures in Black-and-White Cows Through Ultrasonography

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to determine the features and size of teat structures in cows using ultrasonography. The experiment was conducted with 12 clinically healthy Black-and-White cows, 3 years of age, with body weight of 350-450 kg. Ultrasonography was performed on 48 teats using ultrasound SonoScape A5v (SonoScape, China) with multifrequency linear transducer (5-12 MHz). The potential of the imaging technique to visualize teat structures as well as teat canal length and diameter, the diameter in the area of the Furstenberg’s rosette, teat wall thickness, teat cistern diameter in its middle part and teat cistern diameter in teat base was evaluated. Scans were conducted before milking, immediately after milking, and 1 and 2 hours after milking. The average teat canal length measured by ultrasound was 8.48±1.41 mm before milking, and until the 2nd post-milking hour its size became statistically significantly (p<0.001) lower (7.48±0.93 mm). Teat canal diameter showed a significant difference (p<0.01) only immediately after milking compared to the size before milking. The diameter of the middle part and the base of the teat cistern also tended to decrease considerably after milking (p<0.001) as compared to premilking values. The teat wall thickness immediately after milking and 1 hour after milking were statistically significantly higher (p<0.001) compared to the premilking size. The analysis of results showed that ultrasonography is a rapid non-invasive and accurate method for determination of characteristics and size of teat structures. It could be used for evaluation of changes occurring in bovine teat after milking - shortening of the teat canal, teat wall thickening and reduction of teat cistern diameter.

The influence of milking on the teat canal of dairy cows determined by ultrasonographic measurements

“…Higher value may be caused by a low number of cows in experiment (n = 25), parity, or stage of lactation. In contrary to our results, Fasulkov et al (2014) showed that a teat canal diameter was reduced by 9.89% immediately after milking. The authors supposed that this could be attributed to the effect of vacuum and mechanical influence of milking on teat tissues.…”

Machine milking–induced changes in teat canal dimensions as assessed by ultrasonography

“…Martin et al (2018) reported a 22.6% increase in teat canal diameter and a 28.9% increase in distal teat canal orifice. In contrast, Fasulkov et al (2014) observed a decrease in teat canal diameter of 9.9%, from 1.92 to 1.73 mm.…”

“…Recent studies provide more similar ultrasonographic investigations of changes in teat canal diameter dimensions relative to machine milking (Szencziová et al, 2013;Fasulkov et al, 2014;Strapák et al, 2017;Martin et al, 2018). The researchers measured teat canal diameter dimensions at the midpoint between the proximal and distal ends of the teat canal (Szencziová et al, 2013;Fasulkov et al, 2014;Strapák et al, 2017) or 5 mm distal to the Furstenberg's rosette (Martin et al, 2018). In addition to assessing the teat canal diameter, Martin et al (2018) assessed the width of the distal teat canal orifice.…”

Gross anatomy and ultrasonography of the udder in goat

“…This structure was visualized as a hypo-echoic as proved by Fasulkov, Yotov, Atanasov et al (2013) in goat, Fasulkov, Vasilev, Karadae et al (2014) in cow and Abshenas, Sajjadian and Taghavi (2014) in mare. However, it is visualized as a hyper-echoic circular area in the center of the teat of buffalo (RAMBABU, SREENU, KUMAR et al, 2009).…”

“…The annular fold separating between the glandular and teat sinuses was visualized as a hypo-echoic linear structure. On the other hand, this fold appears either an anechoic zone (FASULKOV, YOTOV, ATANASOV et al, 2013 in goat;FASULKOV, VASILEV, KARADAE et al, 2014 in cow) or a hyper-echoic linear structure (RAGAB, SALEH, AHMED et al, 1999 in goat;ABSHENAS, VOSOUGH, MASOUDIFARD et al, 2007 in she camel).…”