Reliable 5G for mobile veterinary CT imaging
Insight Mobile Veterinary Diagnostics runs Australia's first mobile veterinary CT service, using Ericsson Enterprise Wireless Solutions to upload hundreds of scans in real time
Success story highlights
Challenge
Insight Mobile Veterinary Diagnostics operates a Computed Tomography (CT) scanner from a mobile truck that visits clinics across metropolitan Melbourne and regional Victoria. Their consumer-grade connection struggled to keep up. In some locations, poor connections meant clinics missed updates, delaying results and follow-up procedures. Long days often ended with the team returning to base to wait for files to upload.
Solution
Ericsson Enterprise Wireless Solutions equipped the truck with reliable 5G connectivity and managed the setup end to end. Scans now upload in real time as they are taken, with a second carrier on standby in case the first fails and the option to add satellite for remote sites.
Benefits
Clinics receive imaging results while patients are still on site, allowing surgery and follow-up care to be handled in one visit. The team no longer loses hours waiting for uploads. In addition, patients avoid unnecessary travel for advanced imaging, and reliable connectivity has become one less thing to think about.
Background and challenges
Insight Mobile Veterinary Diagnostics operates the first mobile veterinary CT service of its kind in Australia. A specialized truck travels to primary care veterinary clinics across Melbourne and Victoria, bringing advanced imaging to patients. On a typical day, the truck visits two or three clinics, scanning dogs, cats, and the occasional bird or zoo animal on site.
Every scan must reach a cloud platform where the specialist and the clinic can view it, so the service only works if the truck can upload at every site it visits. A consumer-grade mobile hotspot could not hold a fast, steady connection across suburban Melbourne and the regional towns beyond it and, in some locations, scans would not upload at all.
For this kind of work, the connection carries everything, so when it faltered, the whole day stalled with it. When a scan could not be uploaded, the clinic did not receive its same-day update. Follow-up procedures that depended on the results had to wait, and the truck was no longer at the patient’s clinic by the time all the images were uploaded. Long days often ended back at base, with the team waiting on the last scans to upload.
“Having a reliable connection that allows us to almost instantaneously upload images means we have confidence that we can access them immediately, contact the clinic, and not compromise patient care.”
Dr. Clint Yudelman, Founder, Insight Mobile Veterinary Diagnostics
Solutions
Working with Advanced Mobile IT (AMIT) and Ericsson Enterprise Wireless Solutions, the operation moved to a 5G connection built for work on the move. Scans now upload in real time as they are taken, so by the time a patient wakes up, the images are already on their way to the specialist and the clinic. The day is no longer planned around where the signal might hold.
The setup is designed to maintain connectivity across shifting coverage zones. A second carrier sits on standby for the stretches between metropolitan Melbourne and the regional towns, and the system can add a low earth orbit (LEO) satellite link if a site is ever beyond cellular range. In practice, the primary network has been strong enough that the backup has rarely been needed.
For a team whose expertise is veterinary medicine, having responsive support on the technical side mattered as much as the hardware. The Ericsson Enterprise Wireless Solutions and AMIT teams installed connectivity equipment in the truck in a single day.
The truest measure of the connection now is how seldom it calls for attention. Through the Ericsson NetCloud management platform, the team can check performance and troubleshoot if something looks off.
"We've had good feedback from zoo staff that it eliminates the stress of transportation to a different facility, so we can drive the truck directly onto the zoo premises and minimize stress for these animals.”
Dr. Susan Nguyen, Head CT Veterinarian, Insight Mobile Veterinary Diagnostics
Outcomes
Faster decisions
Results reach the clinic before the patient goes home, so surgery and follow-up can happen the same day.
Time saved in the field
Scans upload as they are taken, eliminating end-of-day delays spent waiting for files to transfer.
Care delivered on site
Animals are scanned where they are, including zoo patients that no longer have to be transported to another facility for imaging.
No clinic out of reach
The connection stays reliable across urban and regional sites, keeping staff focused on patients.
1st
mobile veterinary CT service in Australia
10-20
scans uploaded in a typical day
Up to 500
images in a single scan series
“I didn't feel like I was dealing with a salesman. The Ericsson and AMIT teams genuinely wanted to provide a good product and a good service for our business.”
Dr. Clint Yudelman, Founder, Insight Mobile Veterinary Diagnostics