Veterinary imaging software used to sit quietly behind the diagnostic process. Its main job was to receive a study, display the images, and store them somewhere retrievable.
A modern imaging platform can influence almost every step between image acquisition and the clinical decision. It determines whether patient information reaches the modality without re-entry, whether prior studies are easy to compare, whether radiographs can be reviewed from another location, whether an AI system can provide immediate decision support, whether a difficult case can move directly to a radiologist, and whether the final report returns to the patient record without another administrative handoff.
What Separates a Modern Veterinary Imaging Platform From a Basic PACS?
A basic PACS answers a storage question: where do the images live? A modern veterinary imaging platform has to answer several more difficult questions.
- How does the study enter the workflow? Patient demographics should move reliably from the practice management system into the imaging environment, minimizing duplicate entry and mismatched studies.
- How is the study interpreted? Some cases can be read confidently in-house. Others benefit from AI-assisted review, a structured second opinion, or formal interpretation by a board-certified veterinary radiologist.
- How is the image connected to the decision? A study should not become an isolated DICOM file. Findings, comparisons, annotations, reports, prior imaging, and relevant patient information should remain accessible around the same clinical event.
- How does the workflow scale? A two-doctor clinic may primarily need simple cloud access. A veterinary group may need centralized imaging across dozens of hospitals, consistent integrations, permission controls, and standardized access to specialists.
This wider view is important when comparing the platforms below. They do not all solve exactly the same layer of the imaging problem.
8 Top Veterinary Imaging Software Platforms in 2026
1. SignalPET
SignalPET has evolved from an AI radiology tool into a broader veterinary imaging and interpretation platform that connects PACS, AI-assisted radiographic analysis, structured reporting, and access to veterinary radiologists.
That combination is especially relevant because the appropriate level of diagnostic support changes from case to case.
SignalPET's Immediate Report acts as a rapid AI-assisted review layer for radiographs. Complete Reports go further by incorporating the images alongside signalment, clinical history, presentation, and the veterinarian's question to generate findings, conclusions, differentials, and recommendations. For cases where the AI does not have sufficient confidence to finalize the Complete Report, the platform can escalate the study for radiologist review. Practices can also request traditional signed radiologist interpretations directly.
This creates a useful clinical ladder. Straightforward studies can receive fast decision support without requiring every image to enter a conventional teleradiology queue, while more difficult or higher-stakes cases can still reach specialist review.
SignalPET PACS extends that workflow beyond radiographs alone. The cloud platform supports X-ray, ultrasound, MRI, and CT imaging with viewing, storage, sharing, and direct access to SignalPET reports inside the same environment. Popular PIMS integrations and an external API are intended to reduce the number of manual handoffs between image acquisition, interpretation, and the patient record.
The distinction is important for veterinary groups evaluating AI. AI is most useful when it is part of the imaging workflow rather than a separate portal that requires staff to manually move studies in and reports back out.
Key capabilities include:
- Cloud-based veterinary PACS
- Multi-modality image management
- AI-assisted radiograph interpretation
- Full-case Complete Reports
- Rapid Immediate Reports
- Radiologist escalation and signed reads
- PIMS connectivity
- API integrations
- Image sharing and cloud storage
- Connected imaging and reporting workflow
2. IDEXX Web PACS
IDEXX Web PACS is a cloud-based veterinary imaging environment designed around integration between image management, practice software, IDEXX diagnostics, and telemedicine.
The platform supports X-ray, dental imaging, ultrasound, MRI, and CT through a common workflow and integrates with many veterinary practice management and imaging systems. Cloud architecture removes much of the server and workstation-management burden associated with traditional PACS while allowing clinicians to access studies from internet-connected devices.
IDEXX has also been adding AI directly to the PACS viewing experience. Its current AI-powered viewer can automate image arrangement through hanging protocols and calculate vertebral heart score from thoracic radiographs while incorporating prior studies and patient context. This illustrates a broader trend in veterinary imaging: AI features are increasingly becoming native viewer functions rather than external diagnostic services.
3. Vetology
Vetology combines AI radiology screening, PACS capabilities, and traditional veterinary teleradiology in a single diagnostic imaging environment.
The AI component is structured around condition-specific classifiers for canine and feline radiographs. As of September 2026, Vetology reported 94 classifiers and publishes detailed performance information for those models, including sensitivity, specificity, predictive values, accuracy, confidence intervals, and radiologist agreement metrics.
That transparency is useful in a clinical AI product. Imaging AI should not be assessed solely by how polished a report appears. Veterinarians and clinical leaders also need to understand what a model has been validated to detect and where its limits sit.
Vetology's workflow automatically receives DICOM radiographs from existing equipment and returns structured AI findings within minutes. When a case warrants additional review, users can escalate to board-certified or board-eligible veterinary radiologists through the same platform. The teleradiology service also covers modalities beyond radiography, including CT, MRI, and ultrasound.
The company also provides built-in cloud PACS and image archiving and supports integrations with veterinary practice management and documentation platforms.
This makes Vetology a practical option for general practices that want AI to act as a routine second-look layer while maintaining straightforward access to specialist interpretation when required.
4. Asteris NewLumen and Keystone
Asteris brings more than two decades of veterinary PACS experience to two different imaging architectures: Keystone and its newer cloud-native NewLumen platform.
Keystone has traditionally been positioned around veterinary PACS for practices ranging from companion-animal clinics to equine and multi-location organizations. It supports multi-modality imaging, DICOM workflows, image sharing, practice management integrations, and connections to multiple teleradiology providers.
NewLumen represents Asteris' newer architecture for cloud-native veterinary imaging and radiology operations.
The platform combines a browser-native DICOM viewer with worklists, case management, routing and dispatch, reporting, SLA tracking, advanced CT/MRI functionality, species-aware hanging protocols, and teleradiology workflows. It is designed particularly for radiologists, specialty groups, multi-site practices, academic networks, and teleradiology organizations that need to manage large imaging queues rather than simply archive studies.
That distinction makes Asteris particularly interesting for larger imaging operations. Asteris addresses both ends of that spectrum through different products rather than forcing every veterinary organization into the same PACS model.
5. Antech SmartPACS
Antech SmartPACS provides a multi-modality veterinary image management environment closely connected to Antech's broader diagnostic imaging portfolio.
SmartPACS 3.0 uses a hybrid architecture that combines cloud capabilities with local access. Its browser-based viewer works across common desktop and mobile operating systems, and the platform supports images from multiple modalities rather than being tied exclusively to digital radiography.
That multimodality approach is increasingly important even outside large referral hospitals.
A modern veterinary practice may generate conventional radiographs, dental studies, ultrasound clips, CT, MRI, or endoscopic material. Fragmenting those modalities across separate viewers makes comparison, consultation, and longitudinal patient review more difficult.
SmartPACS itself is particularly useful for hospitals that need reliable image availability throughout the practice. Unlimited licensing and browser access allow studies to be viewed across different workstations without creating a workstation-by-workstation PACS deployment.
For organizations already using Antech or Sound imaging equipment, that integrated workflow can be a significant operational advantage.
6. Radimal
Radimal is built around a hybrid model of AI-supported interpretation and board-certified veterinary radiology.
The platform provides AI-powered assessments for radiographic cases while also giving clinics access to DACVR board-certified specialist consultations. The intent is to shorten the time between image acquisition and useful clinical information without removing specialist radiologists from cases where deeper interpretation is required.
Radimal also includes PACS functionality, allowing imaging and reporting to remain connected rather than requiring the clinic to use the platform exclusively as an external reporting service.
This integrated approach matters because veterinary imaging demand does not fall neatly into two categories of "AI case" and "radiologist case." Radimal also supports ultrasound diagnostics alongside radiology services, broadening its role beyond conventional X-ray interpretation.
For general practices and urgent-care settings, the combination of AI, PACS, and radiologist access can create a more flexible model than depending entirely on either local reads or traditional teleradiology.
7. VetRocket RocketPACS
VetRocket's RocketPACS is a cloud-based DICOM platform focused strongly on image storage, viewing, sharing, and flexible access.
The platform is browser-based and supports common veterinary modalities including digital radiography, dental imaging, ultrasound, endoscopy video, MRI, and CT. It can also manage additional file types such as PDFs, JPEGs, and video, which can be useful for practices that want imaging-related clinical material accessible from a common environment.
Its viewer includes standard PACS functions such as magnification, brightness and contrast adjustment, measurements, hanging protocols, prior-study comparison, demographic correction, and audit logging.
A programmable DICOM router gives hospitals control over where imaging studies move, which can be valuable when cases need to reach another location or an external interpretation service.
For practices that primarily need straightforward cloud PACS infrastructure rather than a highly integrated AI interpretation layer, RocketPACS provides a relatively focused imaging environment with broad modality support.
8. VitalPACS and VitalAPPS
VitalPACS is a cloud-based veterinary image archive and viewing platform operated alongside VitalRADS' teleradiology services.
The PACS is designed to provide remote access to DICOM studies from radiography, ultrasound, CT, and MRI while supporting image viewing, manipulation, multi-location access, cloud backup, and long-term archival.
In 2026, VitalRADS expanded this environment with VitalAPPS, bringing case submission, DICOM studies, radiologist workflows, reporting, and archiving into a more unified teleradiology platform. The objective is to reduce the number of separate handoffs between sending a case and receiving the final interpretation.
That direction is significant for veterinary groups that outsource substantial imaging volume.
For these organizations, PACS performance is only part of the workflow. The platform also needs to maintain clinical context, organize pending cases, support specialist readers, track results, and ensure finalized reports return to the clinical team efficiently.
This makes the platform especially relevant for organizations whose imaging model depends heavily on external specialist interpretation rather than primarily on in-house radiograph reading.
The Imaging Workflow Should Be Evaluated From Acquisition to Action
Veterinary hospitals sometimes evaluate PACS almost entirely through the viewer.
That is understandable. Image manipulation is the most visible part of the product.
But the clinical workflow begins before the viewer opens and ends long after the veterinarian closes it.
A useful evaluation should follow an actual case.
- Order and acquisition: Can patient and study information flow from the PIMS into the modality, or will staff re-enter demographics manually?
- Image quality and viewing: Does the viewer provide the tools required for the modalities the hospital actually uses? Can clinicians compare priors easily?
- Interpretation: Will the veterinarian read the study internally, receive AI support, request teleradiology, or use different approaches depending on the case?
- Reporting: Does the report stay connected to the study and return automatically to the patient record?
- Communication: Can images and findings be shared securely with owners, referring veterinarians, specialists, or another hospital?
- Archive and retrieval: Can a clinician find the study several years later, including when the patient moves between locations?
The best imaging software is often the platform that removes the greatest number of transitions between these stages.
FAQs
What is the difference between veterinary PACS and radiology software?
PACS primarily refers to the infrastructure used to archive, retrieve, view, and distribute medical images. Veterinary radiology software may include PACS functionality but can also provide AI interpretation, specialist reporting, teleradiology workflow, case management, reporting tools, or clinical decision support. Increasingly, these functions are being combined within one platform.
Can one veterinary PACS manage X-rays, ultrasound, CT, and MRI?
Many modern systems support multiple DICOM modalities, including radiography, ultrasound, CT, MRI, and dental imaging. The level of viewer functionality may differ, particularly for advanced imaging. Specialty hospitals should evaluate requirements such as multiplanar reconstruction, 3D viewing, cine loops, large-series performance, and specialized measurement tools before selecting a platform.
How does AI fit into veterinary diagnostic imaging?
AI can analyze imaging studies rapidly and provide findings that support the veterinarian's interpretation. Some systems function primarily as screening tools, while others generate more comprehensive case-level reports. AI can be particularly useful as an immediate second set of eyes, but complex studies may still require review by a board-certified veterinary radiologist.
Why is PIMS integration important for veterinary imaging?
PIMS integration reduces duplicate data entry and keeps imaging information connected to the clinical record. Ideally, patient demographics and imaging orders move into the imaging workflow automatically, while finalized reports and relevant results return to the patient chart. This reduces administrative effort and helps prevent errors caused by manually re-entering patient information.
