‘National Inventor of the Year Award’ Goes to Raymond
V. Damadian, M.D.,
For the Invention of the FONAR UPRIGHT™ Multi-Position™ MRI
MELVILLE,
NEW YORK, June 19, 2007 - FONAR Corporation (NASDAQ-FONR),
The Inventor of MR Scanning™,
announced today that the Intellectual Property Owners Education Foundation (IPOEF)
has selected FONAR president and founder Professor Raymond
V. Damadian, M.D., as the 34th winner of the ‘National
Inventor of the Year Award’ for the invention of the
FONAR UPRIGHT™ Multi-Position™ MRI. The award was
presented to Dr. Damadian at the Caucus Room, Cannon House
Office Building of Congress, Washington, DC. It was presented
by The Honorable Congressman Howard L. Berman (D-Calif.), Chairman
of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Intellectual Property.
|
The Honorable
Congressman Howard L. Berman presents Dr. Raymond V. Damadian
with the National
Inventor
of the Year Award for the invention of the UPRIGHT™ Multi-Position™ MRI |
|
Invention of the
Year |
The
IPOEF ‘National Inventor of the Year Award’ has
previously been presented to such distinguished inventors as
Robert Jarvik, M.D., for the Jarvik Seven artificial heart,
(1983), and Amar G. Bose and William R. Short, Bose Corporation,
for the Bose folded acoustic waveguide loudspeaker system, (1987).
On the podium
was ‘Distinguished Guest’ Dr. Donald B. Keck, Co-developer of Optical
Waveguide Fibers (Fiber Optics) and Harry J. Gwinnell, President of the IPOEF.
The IPOEF, based in Washington D.C., is a non-profit subsidiary of the Intellectual
Property Owners Association (IPO). The award presentation was attended by approximately
200 people, mostly members of the IPO.
Congressman
Berman said “The Upright™ MRI scanner can examine any part of the
body under its normal functional load. This is particularly useful in diagnosing
patients whose pain or other symptoms occur only the way they are in specific
positions. It also allows doctors to image the cardiovascular system when the
body is upright and blood is being propelled against gravity. The scanner’s
open configuration will provide better patient comfort during MRI imaging and
will be a more effective tool for patient treatment. Dr. Raymond Damadian,
Congratulations for this extraordinary achievement. I am very honored and pleased
to present you the ‘National Inventor of the Year’ plaque and award.”
"We are
delighted to honor Dr. Damadian with this award," said IPO Education Foundation
President Harry J. Gwinnell. "His contributions to the field of magnetic
resonance imaging, particularly with the Upright™ MRI technology for which
we salute him today, have been critical in advancing modern medicine's diagnostic
and treatment capabilities."
“I
am pleased to accept this award from the IPOEF. There are many
people I have to thank for this honor,” said Dr. Damadian. “This
award is possible because of the invention of the FONAR UPRIGHT™ Multi-Position™ MRI
and is rightfully shared with the FONAR team, a majority who
have been with the Company for more than a decade and a half.
It is their hard work and genius that created this medical marvel
which is revolutionizing diagnostic medicine. It is all of us
who contributed to the FONAR UPRIGHT™ Multi-Position™ MRI
who should be proud of this ‘Invention of the Year’.”
In
1989, Dr. Damadian was inducted into the National Inventors
Hall of Fame, now in Akron, Ohio, for the invention of the MR
scanner (visit: www.invent.org/hall_of_fame/36.html ). Ms. Rini
Paiva, Executive Director of the National Inventors Hall of
Fame said, “The inventors who have been inducted all contributed
greatly to the way we live our lives, and Dr. Damadian is among
those who continues to invent and change the way we live. Now,
18 years since being inducted into the National Inventors Hall
of Fame for revolutionizing the field of diagnostic medicine
with the invention of the MRI, he has again revolutionized the
field of diagnostic medicine with the invention of the Upright™ MRI.”
Dr.
Damadian has received widespread recognition for his inventiveness.
In 2004, he received The Benjamin Franklin Medal and The Bower
Award for Business Leadership from the Franklin Institute, (visit:
www.fonar.com/2004_bower_award.htm ). In 1988, President Ronald
Reagan awarded Dr. Damadian the National Medal of Technology,
the nation’s highest honor in technology, for the invention
of the MRI (visit: www.fonar.com/medaloftech.htm ).
Dr.
Damadian remarked about the United States Patent, “It
is the only property right to the citizens of America that is
included in the U.S. Constitution itself. Our founding fathers
viewed the patent as a right of citizenship so consequential
to the well being of the new republic as to immortalize it in
the Constitution (Article 1, Section 8) and rank it in significance
alongside the “Blessing of Liberty,” the right to
make laws, the right to collect taxes, and the right to empower
armed forces.”
“Indeed,” said
Dr. Damadian, “except for the U.S. Patent there might
well be no MRI today. The prospect of a patent to generate revenues
enabled me to depart from my academic research and develop a
practical application of that research, mainly an NMR body scanner
(MRI), whose invention and construction would be able to assure
the funding needed to continue that research into the future.”
A
photo gallery of the IPOEF National Inventor of the Year event
at the Cannon House Office Building, featuring many notable
attendees, is on the Web. Visit: www.ipoef.org .
Select: “IPOEF
National Inventor of the Year Award” Select: “Photo
Gallery”
|
The Honorable
Howard L. Berman, Chairman of the House Judiciary Subcommittee
on Intellectual Property presents the
National Inventor of the Year Award to Dr. Raymond V. Damadian
of Fonar Corp,
Inventor
of the Upright MRI Machine. |
|
(L-R)
IPO Education Foundation Pres. Harry Gwinnell, Cargill,
Inc., Dr. Damadian, and Dr. Donald B. Keck.(Co-inventor
of Fiber Optics) |
|
A packed crowd at the 2007 IOY Reception. |
|
|
The Hon. Randall R. Rader, U.S. Court of Appeals for the
Fed. Circuit, Raghunath S. Minisandram, Klein, O'Neill & Singh,
LLP, and Hon. M. K. Sharma, Delhi High Court. |
The Hon. Richard Linn, Court of Appeals for the Fed. Circuit,
Mrs. Patti Linn, and Congressman Howard Coble. |
|
National
Inventor of the Year Dr. Raymond Damadian, The Honorable
Pauline
Newman, Court of Appeals
for the Fed. Circuit, and IPO Education Foundation Pres.
Harry Gwinnell, Cargill, Inc. |
|
|
IPO
Education Foundation President Harry Gwinnell introduces
Dr. Raymond V. Damadian.
|
|
IPO Exec. Director Herbert C.
Wamsley, IPO Past President Gary Griswold, 3M Innovative
Properties Co., IPO President Marc Adler, Rohm and Haas
Co., and Frampton Ellis III, Anatomic Research, Inc. |
|
|
Dr. Donald
Keck, co-developer of Fiber Optics presents
opening remarks. |
Dr. Damadian speaks on invention and the upright MRI. |
|
|
Dr. Damadian at the podium. |
The Honorable
Howard L. Berman and Dr. Raymond V. Damadian with the National
Inventor of the Year Award. |
About the IPO and IPOEF
The Intellectual Property Owners Association (IPO), established in 1972, is a
trade association for owners of patents, trademarks, copyrights and trade secrets
and has been selecting the “National Inventor of the Year” for
its highest honor for 34 years. The IPO is the only association in the U.S.
that serves all intellectual property owners in all industries and all fields
of technology. The membership of the Intellectual Property Owners Association
includes many law firms and attorneys specializing in patent law, as well as
large and mid-size companies, small businesses, universities, inventors, authors
and executives. For more information visit: www.ipo.org
The Intellectual Property Owners Education Foundation
(IPOEF), founded in 2005 as a non-profit subsidiary of the IPO.
It hosts today, the Inventor of the Year Award program to promote
public awareness of current inventors and how they benefit the
nation’s economy and our quality of life. It is devoted
to educational and charitable activities designed to improve
intellectual property rights (patents, trademarks, copyrights).
The IPOEF conducts programs to broaden public understanding
of systems for protecting these vital property rights of American
citizens, which America’s founders immortalized when they
included patent law in the constitution (Article 1, Section
8). For more information visit: www.ipoef.org
About FONAR
FONAR® was incorporated in 1978, making it the first, oldest
and most experienced MRI manufacturer in the industry. FONAR introduced
the world's first commercial MRI in 1980, and went public in 1981.
Since its inception, FONAR has installed hundreds of MRI scanners
worldwide. Their stellar product line includes the FONAR UPRIGHT™ Multi-Position™ MRI
(also known as the STAND-UP™ MRI), the only whole-body MRI
that performs Multi-Position™ imaging (mpMRI™) 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™ Multi-Position™ MRI
often sees the patient's problem that other scanners cannot because
they are lie-down only. With nearly one half million patients scanned,
the patient-friendly FONAR UPRIGHT™ Multi-Position™ MRI
has a near zero claustrophobic rejection rate by patients. A radiologist
said, "FONAR UPRIGHT™ MRI – No More Claustrophobia
- The Tunnel Is Gone." As another 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 they watch a 42" flat screen TV. FONAR's latest
MRI scanner is the FONAR 360™, a room-size recumbent scanner
that optimizes openness while facilitating physician access to
the patient. FONAR is headquartered on Long Island, New York, and
has approximately 400 employees..
#
The Inventor of MR Scanning™,
Full Range of Motion™, STAND-UP™, UPRIGHT™,
Multi-Position™, pMRI™, True Flow™, Walk-In™ and
The Proof is in the Picture™ 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.
###
FONAR Corporation
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Melville, N.Y. 11747
Tel. 631-694-2929
Fax. 631-390-9540
Email sales@FONAR.com
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