FONAR's Stand-Up MRI Showcased for the First Time at World's Largest Spine Surgeon Meeting
Tuesday October 28, 1:00 am ET
MELVILLE, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 28, 2003--FONAR Corporation (NASDAQ-FONR), The MRI Specialist(TM), reported that the Company attended the 18th annual meeting of the North American Spine Society (NASS). Attended by approximately 2500 spine surgeons, the meeting was held at the San Diego Convention Center in San Diego, California from October 21 through October 25, 2003. The FONAR exhibit was the fifth largest of 130 exhibits on the floor of the show.
The president and chairman of FONAR, Raymond V. Damadian, who attended the meeting said, "I was very pleased with the enthusiastic reception we received from so many spine surgeons. Spine surgeons are quick to recognize the advantages of being able to evaluate patients in weight-bearing postures and in positions of pain or other symptoms. More importantly, they recognize the upright spine X-ray pictures they rely on to 'guess' the actual upright condition falls far short of the need. In the X-ray flat plate, all the 3-D structures they see are squashed onto a 2-D picture obscuring the needed 3-D anatomic relationships they need to see in order to do surgery. None of the critical soft tissue support structures like the nerve roots, intervetrebral disks, spinal cord, spinal ligaments, etc. that they need to see are visible on X-ray plates. The upright axial cut available on the MRI shows these structures and their 3-D relationships in the upright position that are critical to the surgeon. The Stand-Up(TM) MRI is the only diagnostic instrument in the world that can give them a complete picture of their patients' problems. It enables them to devise better surgical plans, which leads to better surgical results and a reduction of the risk of failed surgeries, which, of course, are high priorities for every spine surgeon."
Ron Michael, M.D., a neurospine surgeon from Chicago, Illinois, said at the FONAR exhibit, "The Stand-Up(TM) MRI provides additional information that is absolutely crucial for the spine surgeon. Now that an upright, weight-bearing imaging system is available, I can no longer settle for the incomplete picture provided by recumbent-only MRI scanners. The more information I have about my patient's condition before I go into surgery, the better the job I'll be able to do in the OR. The Stand-Up(TM) MRI takes away all the guesswork. It's that simple."
David McCord, M.D., a NASS member and a potential customer said, "The FONAR Stand-Up(TM) MRI is the most exciting new technology at the NASS meeting. The exhibit was very nicely done and the images FONAR displayed were excellent. It is obvious to me that Position(TM) MRI (pMRI(TM)) is going to make a tremendous impact on my profession."
FONAR made regularly scheduled multimedia presentations of the Stand-Up(TM) MRI that included several compelling case studies showing pathology detected by the Stand-Up(TM) MRI that had been missed on a conventional lie-down MRI. Neuroradiologist Randy Jinkins, M.D. of Downstate Medical Center of Brooklyn, an expert in position and kinetic MRI, gave several well-attended presentations of his paper, "Upright, Weight-Bearing, Dynamic-Kinetic MRI of the Spine: What is Being Missed on Recumbent MRI."
The Stand-Up(TM) MRI is the only MRI scanner that can scan patients standing, sitting, bending, or lying down. To date, the Company has sold 58 units. MRI Specialist, Stand-Up, Upright, Position Imaging and PMRI are trademarks of FONAR Corporation.
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