AI enables vets to take cues straight from the horse’s mouth
21 Apr 2025
 Elin Hernlund (SLU) OL.jpg.jpg)
Two Swedish research institutions have developed an AI platform that provides a 'digital voice' for equine patients to aid diagnosis.
The DESSIE system, created by KTH Royal Institute of Technology and the Swedish University of Agricultural Science (SLU), uses video to reveal a horse’s 3D motion, allowing vets to be better able to spot tell-tale physical signs of illness and injury.
SLU associate professor in biomechanics at SLU and equine orthopedics clinician Elin Hernlund (left) said DESSIE provided critical information “straight from the horse’s mouth.”
“Horses are powerful but fragile and they tell us how they are feeling by their body language. By watching their gait we can see, for example, if they are offloading pain,” she explained.
KTH professor in computer vision and machine learning Hedvig Kjellström (centre) described the system as employing disentangled learning to separate key visual factors for the first time in a non-human 3D motion model.
Added Hernlund: “It’s the smartest and highest resolution way to extract digital information from the horse’s body—even their faces, which can tell us a great deal.”
The researchers are seeking to boost DESSIE’s sophistication by accumulating more images from breeders in order to present the widest range of horse sizes and breeds available.
