DVM systems.

• Author: Peterson, Eric
• Position: COMPANY

INITIAL LIGHT BULB A team of wireless industry veterans came together with a veterinarian to launch DVM Systems, aimed at wireless detection of illnesses in dairy cattle.

A Boulder firm developed the core technology for Goodyear for use in tires in planes and performance cars. DVM does not plant the sensors in tires, but rather in the second compartment of a cow's stomach.

IN A NUTSHELL For decades, dairymen have monitored their cows' body temperatures to detect the early onset of illnesses that might lead to diminished capacity to produce milk.

"There's one factor that's most important to the health in a mammal, and that's temperature," says DMV CEO Kevin Wild. "This is the latest evolution in temperature detection."

The sensor resides in a cow's stomach permanently and delivers information via passive RFID to DMV's semi-customizable software, TempTrack. A proprietary algorithm takes each animal's baseline temperature into account and sends out alerts on cows with elevated temperatures.

"A 1,000-cow dairy might have seven or eight alerts on a given morning," Wild says. "Those are the cows most likely to be at risk. That might be before any other symptoms exist." The farmer then uses a handheld reader or another method to locate and isolate the at-risk animals.

The prime illnesses DVM helps prevent are mastitis (inflammation of the udder) and metritis (inflammation of the uterus). Future iterations will be tied to reproductive status, Wild says.

"By identifying mastitis early, you have a choice of treatment," he adds. "You can limit the use of antibiotics. That's an ongoing issue in the dairy industry. They're very keen on minimizing the amount of antibiotics they use." Organic farmers are even keener on early detection because it greatly improves the effectiveness of homeopathic treatments.

The system can pay for itself in six months, says Wild...