COLUMBIA — A University of Missouri doctoral student working with an associate professor is developing new technology to improve veterinarians’ ability to monitor horse health.

“Maybe you can give an early warning or something that says, like this is out of the normal, maybe ask for help, just help reduce response times.” Explained Morgan Miller, a graduate student at the University of Missouri.

At some point in your life, you probably wished you could talk to your pets.

Although it may never be possible, Morgan Miller, a Mizzou graduate student studying mechanical and aerospace engineering, and University of Missouri mechanical engineering professor Jian Lin are developing noninvasive sensors that monitor signs horses’ vitals.

Miller describes the device as a Fitbit for pets.

“You could refer to it as a pulse sensor, it’s just a little light-based sensor that we would normally wear on our finger, and I kind of blew it up so I could put it on a horse, and “We can measure things like respiratory rate, heart rate and watch the real-time fluctuations of these animals while they’re wearing it,” Miller said.

The devices are placed at the base of a horse’s tail.

He says the data collected allows veterinarians to form their own hypotheses about horses’ underlying health problems.

“And say, oh, we saw this fluctuation in heart rate, or we saw this fluctuation in respiratory rate, maybe through their education and their field, they’ll be able to say, maybe we can do this inference about what’s bothering this animal, or what we could do to help this animal. It’s just a tool that we’re trying to add to their toolbox.

Jian Lin, a professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Missouri, is also working on developing the sensors.

Lin says the sensors also monitor horses’ behavior in groups.

He says through their research they hope to understand the intentions of horses and other animals.

“You know, if you’re scared, your vital signs change. You can think of a human being scared, watch a horror movie, and your heart rate goes up and your blood pressure goes up. And this happens in horses,” Lin said.

Miller says that although they conducted their research on horses, he says the sensors have the potential to work on other animals, including pets.

Miller and Lin’s goal is to commercialize the sensors to make them widely available to veterinarians, facility managers and pet owners.