FONAR Corporation (NASDAQ-FONR), The Inventor of MR Scanning™, will
ring the Nasdaq Stock Market Closing Bell on March 9, 2021. Nasdaq
and FONAR selected this day as it is 50 years since the discovery
of MRI by Raymond V. Damadian, M.D., FONAR’s founder and chairman,
was published in the widely-read, peer-reviewed scientific journal
Science on March 19, 1971.*
To access the live stream link for the FONAR
Closing Bell Ceremony from Nasdaq visit:
https://livestream.com/accounts/27896496/events/9548785.
Dr. Damadian said, “I got my first idea for MRI
in 1969, and in 1970 made the discovery that is the basis for the
making of every MRI image ever produced and the foundation of the
MRI industry. This discovery is that there is a marked difference
in the relaxation time of the NMR (MRI) signals between normal and
cancerous tissues of the same type, as well as between different
types of normal tissues. This discovery, published in the
peer-reviewed journal ‘Science,’ marked the beginning of the MRI
industry.”
The discovery resulted in the generation of the
pronounced pixel contrast that was deficient in traditional medical
imaging technology (x-ray, CT, 4%) and was needed for adequate
visualization of the body's vital organs and assessment of their
well-being. The pixel contrast provided by MRI imaging was raised
to 131%. As reported in edubilla.com: “But without this discovery
of the profound sensitivity of the relaxation time to different
tissue types and malignant tissue THERE WOULD BE NO PICTURE
AT ALL.”
Prior to this 1971 article in the journal
Science, there was no realization that existing NMR test tube
technology could be transformed into a scanner of the live human
body. Soon scientists around the world began researching the
discovery.
Dr. Damadian’s discovery, as reported in Science
1971, soon led to the first patent in MRI.** In 1977, with his two
post doctorate students, Lawrence Minkoff, Ph.D., and Michael
Goldsmith. Ph.D., he went on to make the world’s first MRI
scanner.
Dr. Minkoff recalled the preparations for the
world’s first MRI scan. He said: “Dr. Damadian agreed to be the
first to go into a huge magnetic field and have resonating radio
frequencies directed at his body and specifically the area around
his heart. This was a risk as no one in the world to our knowledge
had done this before. So the first time, a cardiologist was on hand
to help if there was a problem. Unfortunately, the scan did not
work. It was later determined that the coil needed further
development. So, finally on the evening of July 2, we were able to
get an NMR (MRI) signal from my chest. With this successful
achievement we were then able to proceed and make the world’s first
MRI image of a live human being.”
Dr. Damadian began FONAR, the world’s first
dedicated MRI Company, in 1978, and the Company installed the
world’s first commercial MRI in 1980. In 1981 FONAR became a
NASDAQ-listed company. The Company, today, is at the Nasdaq Stock
Market Closing Bell Ceremony delightedly celebrating the 50th
anniversary of the birth of MRI.
* R. Damadian, “Tumor Detection by Nuclear
Magnetic Resonance,” Science, Volume 171, pp.1151-1153. This paper
was referenced by other Scientist-Authors in the field so
frequently that it was recognized as a ‘Citation Classic’ by the
Institute for Scientific Information, Philadelphia, PA, whose
mission it is to monitor scientific citations.
** U.S. Patent #3,789,832, “Apparatus and Method
for Detecting Cancer in Tissue,” (1974) that patented the
relaxation differences and their use in medical scanning. It was
acknowledged and enforced by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1997. There
are currently more than 4,500 patents on MRI issued by the U.S.
Patent Office.
About FONAR
FONAR, the Inventor of MR Scanning™, located in
Melville, NY, was incorporated in 1978, and is the first, oldest
and most experienced MRI company in the industry. FONAR introduced
the world’s first commercial MRI in 1980, and went public in 1981.
FONAR’s signature product is the FONAR UPRIGHT® Multi-Position™ MRI
(also known as the STAND-UP® MRI), the only whole-body MRI that
performs Position™ Imaging (pMRI™) and scans patients in numerous
weight-bearing positions, i.e. standing, sitting, in flexion and
extension, as well as the conventional lie-down position. The FONAR
UPRIGHT® MRI often detects patient problems that other MRI scanners
cannot because they are lie-down, ”weightless-only” scanners. The
patient-friendly UPRIGHT® MRI has a near-zero patient
claustrophobic rejection rate. As a FONAR customer states, “If the
patient is claustrophobic in this scanner, they’ll be
claustrophobic in my parking lot.” Approximately 85% of patients
are scanned sitting while watching TV.
FONAR has new works-in-progress technology for
visualizing and quantifying the cerebral hydraulics of the central
nervous system, the flow of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), which
circulates throughout the brain and vertebral column at the rate of
32 quarts per day. This imaging and quantifying of the dynamics of
this vital life-sustaining physiology of the body’s neurologic
system has been made possible first by FONAR’s introduction of the
MRI and now by this latest works-in-progress method for quantifying
CSF in all the normal positions of the body, particularly in its
upright flow against gravity. Patients with whiplash or other neck
injuries are among those who will benefit from this new
understanding.
FONAR’s primary source of income and growth is
attributable to its wholly-owned diagnostic imaging management
subsidiary, Health Management Company of America (HMCA)
www.hmca.com.
FONAR’s substantial list of patents includes
recent patents for its technology enabling full weight-bearing MRI
imaging of all the gravity sensitive regions of the human anatomy,
especially the brain, extremities and spine. It includes its newest
technology for measuring the Upright cerebral hydraulics of the
cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of the central nervous system. FONAR’s
UPRIGHT® Multi-Position™ MRI is the only scanner licensed under
these patents.
UPRIGHT® and STAND-UP® are registered
trademarks. The Inventor of MR Scanning™, CSP™, Multi-Position™,
UPRIGHT RADIOLOGY™, The Proof is in the Picture™, pMRI™, CSF
Videography™ and Dynamic™, 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.
Contact: Daniel Culver
Director of Communications
E-mail: investor@fonar.com
www.fonar.com
Phone: (631) 694-2929
Fax: (631) 390-1772
Fonar (NASDAQ:FONR)
Historical Stock Chart
From Mar 2024 to Apr 2024
Fonar (NASDAQ:FONR)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2023 to Apr 2024