Table 1.  Comparison of RTU (3.5 or 5.0 MHz sector or linear probes)
at d 18 to 20, 21 and 24 in diagnosing pregnancy in swine (NC State Trials).

 

 

 

 

Item

RTU (Part 1, Tech. A)

RTU (Part 2)

3.5 MHz

(sector)

5 MHz

(sector)

3.5 & 5 MHz (sector)

5 MHz (linear)

d 21

3.5 MHz (sector) Tech B

d 21

d 21

d 18-20

Tech A

Tech B

d 21

d 24

False Open, % Diagnosed open but actual status pregnant

8.2

2.05

26.9

1.7

4.4

16.0

0.0

False Pregnant, % Diagnosed pregnant but actual status open

2.0

2.05

21.1

3.4

7.4

6.0

2.1

True Open, % Diagnosed open and actual status open

44.9

44.9

22.5

34.5

43.4

44.0

45.8

True Pregnant, % Diagnosed pregnant and actual status pregnant

44.9

51.0

29.5

60.4

44.8

34.0

52.1

Sensitivity, Ability to detect pregnant sows; % of pregnant sows diagnosed pregnant

84.6

96.1

65.6

97.3

91.1

68.0

95.6

Specificity, Ability to detect open sows; % of open sows diagnosed open

95.7

94.7

56.9

91.0

85.4

88.0

100.0

Accuracy, Ability to detect pregnant and open sows

89.8

95.9

61.4

94.9

88.2

78.0

97.9

 

 

Table 2.  Efficacy of RTU (5.0 MHz sector probe)
in diagnosing pregnancy in swine (initial field trial).

 

 

Item

RTU

17-20

21-23

24-30

38-44

52-58

False Open, % Diagnosed open but actual status pregnant

18.2

0.0

0.4

0.0

0.0

False Pregnant, % Diagnosed pregnant but actual status open

7.3

3.0

1.8

1.9

1.3

True Open, % Diagnosed open and actual status open

7.3

4.2

4.2

1.5

0.8

True Pregnant, % Diagnosed pregnant and actual status pregnant

67.2

92.8

93.6

96.5

97.9

Sensitivity, Ability to detect pregnant sows; % of pregnant sows diagnosed pregnant

78.7

100.0

99.6

100.0

100.0

Specificity, Ability to detect open sows; % of open sows diagnosed open

50.0

58.3

70.0

44.1

36.4

Accuracy, Ability to detect pregnant and open sows

74.5

97.0

97.8

98.0

98.7


 

Table 3.  Comparison of RTU (5 MHz linear probe)
versus A-mode in diagnosing pregnancy in swine (Trial 1).

 

 

Item

A-mode,

d 28

RTU,

d 21

False Open, % Diagnosed open but actual status pregnant

6.5

2.6

False Pregnant, % Diagnosed pregnant but actual status open

0.1

13.8

True Open, % Diagnosed open and actual status open

1.9

2.0

True Pregnant, % Diagnosed pregnant and actual status pregnant

90.7

81.6

Sensitivity, Ability to detect pregnant sows; % of pregnant sows diagnosed pregnant

97.2

96.9

Specificity, Ability to detect open sows; % of open sows diagnosed open

66.7

12.7

Accuracy, Ability to detect pregnant and open sows

92.6

83.6

 

 

Table 4.  Reproductive status of sows diagnosed
for pregnancy using RTU (5 MHz linear probe) or A-mode (Trial 2).

 

Result (n / percentage)

A-mode

RTU

Abortion

22 / 1.5

14 / 0.9

Farrow

1235 / 85.9

1329 / 84.9

Irregular Return

38 / 2.7

50 / 3.2

Regular Return

116 / 8.1

130 / 8.3

Removed

22 / 1.5

36 / 2.3

Other

4 / 0.3

7 / 0.4

Total

1437

1566

 

 

Table 5.  Comparison of RTU (5 MHz linear probe)
versus A-mode in diagnosing pregnancy in swine (Trial 2).

 

 

Item

A-mode

RTU

d 28

d 35

d 21

d 28

False Open, % Diagnosed open but actual status pregnant

0.4

0.4

2.4

0.1

False Pregnant, % Diagnosed pregnant but actual status open

6.1

5.8

5.9

6.0

True Open, % Diagnosed open and actual status open

0.7

0.5

4.0

2.3

True Pregnant, % Diagnosed pregnant and actual status pregnant

92.8

93.3

87.8

91.7

Sensitivity, Ability to detect pregnant sows; % of pregnant sows diagnosed pregnant

99.6

99.6

97.4

99.8

Specificity, Ability to detect open sows; % of open sows diagnosed open

10.9

7.2

40.4

27.5

Accuracy, Ability to detect pregnant and open sows

93.6

93.8

91.8

93.9


Table 6.  Additional costs of real-time ultrasound
versus the number of sows tested per week.

 

No Sows Tested/

Machine/Week

Total

Sows

 

Additional Cost

(3 year life)

 

Additional Cost

(5 year life)

($/Sow Tested)

($/Year)

($/Sow Tested)

($/Year)

25

500

 

$2.214

$2,878

 

$1.521

$1,977

50

1,000

 

$1.072

$2,787

 

$0.725

$1,886

100

2,000

 

$0.501

$2,605

 

$0.328

$1,704

200

4,000

 

$0.215

$2,241

 

$0.129

$1,340

300

6,000

 

$0.120

$1,877

 

$0.063

$976

400

8,000

 

$0.073

$1,513

 

$0.029

$612

500

10,000

 

$0.044

$1,149

 

$0.010

$248

600

12,000

 

$0.025

$785

 

$(0.004)

$(116)

700

14,000

 

$0.012

$421

 

$(0.013)

$(480)

800

18,000

 

$0.001

$57

 

$(0.020)

$(844)

Values adjusted for labor savings associated with RTU vs. A-mode (two vs. one check).

 

 

Table 7.  Effect of number of sows and percentage improvement
above A-mode in detecting open sows (False Pregnant) on open sow days.

 

Number of Sows

% Improvement in Detecting Open Females

0.1

0.5

1.0

2.0

3.0

4.0

1

0.5

0.8

1.1

1.8

2.6

3.3

500

255

396

572

924

1,277

1,629

1,000

510

792

1,144

1,849

2,553

3,258

2,000

1,020

1,583

2,288

3,697

5,106

6,516

4,000

2,039

3,167

4,576

7,394

10,213

13,031

6,000

3,059

4,750

6,864

11,092

15,319

19,547

8,000

4,079

6,334

9,152

14,789

20,426

26,062

10,000

5,099

7,917

11,440

18,486

25,532

32,578

Values adjusted for additional cost of RTU. Assumptions: CR = 85%; earliest day scanned = 23.

 

 

Table 8.  Relationship between conception rate and percentage
improvement of real-time ultrasound above A-mode in detecting open
sows (specificity) on number of open sow days saved by real-time ultrasound.

 

 

% Improvement

Number of Open Sow Days Saved (Standard Culling)

70%

75%

80%

85%

90%

0

0.392

0.265

0.162

0.085

0.032

0.10

0.419

0.292

0.189

0.112

0.059

0.50

0.528

0.400

0.298

0.220

0.168

1.00

0.663

0.536

0.433

0.356

0.303

2.00

0.934

0.807

0.704

0.627

0.574

3.00

1.205

1.078

0.975

0.898

0.845

4.00

1.476

1.349

1.246

1.169

1.116

5.00

1.747

1.630

1.517

1.440

1.387

6.00

2.018

1.891

1.788

1.711

1.658

Standard culling assumes that sows are culled the second time they are detected open.

RTU initiated at 28 d gestation.

 

 

Table 9.  Number of open sow days saved as
affected by number of sows and day RTU is initiated.

 

Number of Sows

Earliest Day RTU Scanning Initiated

21

23

25

27

29

31

500

614

570

526

482

438

394

1,000

1,231

1,143

1,055

967

879

791

2,000

2,463

2,287

2,112

1,936

1,760

1,584

4,000

4,927

4,576

4,224

3,873

3,521

3,170

6,000

7,391

6,864

6,337

5,809

5,282

4,755

8,000

9,855

9,152

8,449

7,746

7,043

6,340

10,000

12,319

11,440

10,561

9,682

8,804

7,925

Assumptions: % improvement above A-mode = 1.0; Farrowing rate = 85%