Contact Information: Contact: Daniel Culver FONAR Corporation Tel: 631-694-2929 www.fonar.com
2009 AIMBE Award for Discovery of MRI to Raymond Damadian, M.D., Founder/FONAR
| Source: FONAR Corporation
MELVILLE, NY--(Marketwire - February 24, 2009) - FONAR Corporation (NASDAQ : FONR ), The Inventor
of MR Scanning, reported today that Raymond V. Damadian, M.D., founder and
president of FONAR Corporation, received the 2009 Honorary Fellow Award
from the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE)
for his discovery of MRI. The AIMBE Award was presented at the annual
meeting of AIMBE, held February 11-13 in Washington, D.C.
AIMBE (www.aimbe.org) was founded in 1991 to establish a clear and
comprehensive identity for the field of medical and biological engineering
-- which is the bridge between the principles of engineering science and
practice, and the problems and issues of biological and medical science and
practice. Representing over 75,000 bioengineers, AIMBE serves and
coordinates a broad constituency of medical and biological scientists and
practitioners, scientific and engineering societies, academic departments
and industries.
The 2009 AIMBE Honorary Fellow Award was accompanied with the following
citation:
Honorary Fellow Awards are given to individuals who have made outstanding
contributions to medical and biological engineering through scientific,
educational, governmental, financial or industrial organizations. This
award is not presented to individuals who have already been named to the
College of Fellows by regular AIMBE procedures.
In 1970, Raymond Damadian, M.D., made the discovery that is the basis for
magnetic resonance (MR) scanning that there is a marked difference in
relaxation times between normal and abnormal tissues of the same type, as
well as between different types of normal tissues. This seminal discovery,
which remains the basis for the making of every MRI image ever produced, is
the foundation of the MRI industry. Dr. Damadian published his discovery in
his milestone 1971 paper in the journal Science (Science 171:1151, 1971)
and filed the pioneer patent for the practical use of his discovery in
1972.
The MRI scanner uses these relaxation differences in diseased tissues such
as cancer and in normal tissues to supply and control the brightness of the
pixels that comprise the MRI image. These relaxation differences, which do
not exist in any other imaging modality, provide the exceptional contrast
and beauty found only in MRI images (10 to 30 times that of x-ray). The
significance and importance of Dr. Damadian's discovery in the origination
of MRI was acknowledged by the U.S. Supreme Court in its 1997 decision,
when the Court enforced Dr. Damadian's original patent (U.S. Patent
#3,789,832) that patented the relaxation differences and their use in
scanning.
With the aid of his post-graduate assistants, Doctors Lawrence Minkoff and
Michael Goldsmith, Dr. Damadian went on to build Indomitable, the first MR
scanner, which was conceived to take advantage of the relaxation
differences among the body's tissues.
Indomitable produced the first human image, that of Dr. Minkoff's chest, on
July 3, 1977 and the first scans of patients with cancer in 1978.
Indomitable has since assumed its rightful place in the Smithsonian
Institute.
FONAR was incorporated in 1978, making it the first, oldest and most
experienced MR manufacturer in the industry. FONAR introduced the world's
first commercial MRI (a whole-body MRI scanner) in 1980, and went public in
1981.
In 1982, FONAR introduced its patented iron-core technology, which is the
basis for all Open MRI scanners. In 1984, the company invented Oblique
Imaging, providing medical technology the means to produce multiple images
"at any angle," which was never before possible in medical imaging.
In 1985, the Multi-Angle Oblique (MAO) scanning protocol, an innovative,
dramatic extension of FONAR's Oblique Imaging was invented and patented.
In 1985, the FONAR MRI scanner at the UCLA Medical Center became the
world's first MRI in which an interventional surgical procedure was
performed. That same year FONAR introduced the world's first mobile MRI.
In 1988, Dr. Damadian was awarded the National Medal of Technology by
President Ronald Reagan, which he shared jointly with Dr. Lauterbur, for
"their independent contributions in conceiving and developing the
application of magnetic resonance technology to medical uses, including
whole-body scanning and diagnostic imaging." Less than one year later, Dr.
Damadian was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame of the
United States Patent Office for his pioneer patent of MR scanning, joining
a select group of renowned pioneers, including Orville and Wilbur Wright,
Henry Ford, Thomas Edison and Alexander Graham Bell, whose inventions have
revolutionized our nation and society.
More information about this prestigious award can be found at
http://www.fonar.com/pdf/AIMBE_award.pdf
UPRIGHT® and STAND-UP® are registered trademarks and The Inventor of MR
Scanning™, Full Range of Motion™, pMRI™, Dynamic™,
Multi-Position™, True Flow™, The Proof is in the Picture™,
Spondylography™ and Spondylometry™ are trademarks of FONAR
Corporation.
This release may include forward-looking statements from the company that
may or may not materialize. Additional information on factors that could
potentially affect the company's financial results may be found in the
company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.