MELVILLE, NY--(Marketwired - May 21, 2014) - FONAR Corporation (NASDAQ: FONR), The Inventor of MR Scanning™, reported that after being diagnosed in November 2012 on the FONAR UPRIGHT® Multi-Position™ MRI (aka STAND-UP MRI®), former NFL quarterback, Jim McMahon, who suffered from post concussion dementia, was able to receive appropriate treatment and that his symptoms have resolved.
Jim McMahon, the former NFL quarterback who guided the Chicago Bears to victory at the 1985 Superbowl, has benefited from having used the FONAR UPRIGHT® MRI scanner at FONAR's Melville corporate headquarters. Former Senior Vice President, David Terry, whose duties included managing the Company's Sports program, became aware of Jim McMahon's health concerns from prior football concussions, from the Sports Illustrated, September 2012, cover story on Jim. Jim had severe headaches, body pain and other debilitating symptoms. Mr. Terry thought that FONAR's new technology for making cinés of the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) as it flows in and out of the brain when the patient is in the Upright position might be able to help Jim. Through a mutual friend, He contacted Jim and scheduled him for an UPRIGHT® CSF flow study at FONAR's Melville MRI facility. The FONAR UPRIGHT® CSF flow video demonstrated a significant obstruction of CSF flow and increased intracranial pressure secondary to prior football injuries to Jim's neck (cervical spine). Subsequently he was treated by Dr. Scott Rosa, of the Trauma Imaging Foundation, www.traumaimagingfoundation.com Dr. Rosa treated Jim with his patented IGAT (Image Guided Atlas Treatment) method. Jim gives much credit to Dr. Raymond Damadian, M.D., president and founder of FONAR, the FONAR UPRIGHT® Multi-Position™ MRI (Stand-Up® MRI) and Dr. Scott Rosa, for the wonderful elimination of his pain. His experiences are reported and found online by The Stamford Advocate (Jan. 17, 2014) and The Yankees Yes Network.
Dr. Damadian said, "FONAR's UPRIGHT® MRI technology has opened a new frontier in medical imaging. It is the power to make MRI motion pictures (cinés) of the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in the spinal canal as it flows into and out of the brain of the patient while the patient is Upright and weight-bearing. These ciné MRIs of flowing CSF as it enters and leaves the Upright brain uniquely visualize any obstructions of CSF flow that might exist and that might correlate with the patient's symptoms. This often leads to a better understanding of the problems with the cervical anatomy that might be contributing to the patient's symptoms. A CSF flow scan was among those done on Jim McMahon when he came to FONAR for his UPRIGHT® MRI scan in November, 2012."
"Jim McMahon suffered from Cranio-Cervical Syndrome (CCS), which was giving him his pain," said Dr. Damadian. "Jim's problems originated because of injury to his neck which caused the obstructions of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) flow to his brain. We are stunned by these most recent medical insights we are gaining from FONAR's new technology for making live cines of the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) as it flows in and out of the Upright brain. It opens a whole new dimension in our understanding of the body's brain and nervous system, the processes that regulate it, and the prospect of developing new therapies that might be able to address a significant number of current day neurological problems."
"We are delighted with FONAR's new Upright CSF technology and its power to contribute to Jim's medical progress," added Dr. Damadian. "Our shareholders can be thankful that it was the FONAR UPRIGHT® Multi-Position™ MRI that was most helpful in Jim's diagnosis which then led to successful treatment by Dr. Rosa of the Trauma Imaging Foundation."
Our understanding of the vulnerability of the human neck and its impact on cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) flow had its genesis in our UPRIGHT® MRI research in patients with multiple sclerosis and our discovery of obstructed CSF flow in these patients and a resulting leakage of antigen containing CSF into the surrounding brain parenchyma," said Dr. Damadian. "On September 20, 2011, I and co-author, FONAR scientist David Chu, PhD., published a paper titled "The Possible Role of Cranio-Cervical Trauma and Abnormal CSF Hydrodynamics in the Genesis of Multiple Sclerosis," in the journal Physiological Chemistry and Physics and Medical NMR (Sept. 20, 2011, 41: 1-17), found at http://www.fonar.com. With this new understanding of the role that cervical trauma plays in the etiology of disease, it is imperative to certify that the sustained neck or head injuries of professional athletes such as NFL football players like Jim McMahon, whiplash patients and others with severe neck trauma, have not resulted in any obstructions of CSF flow, which could eventually lead to the symptomatology we are calling the Cranio-Cervical Syndrome (CCS)."
Caption for Picture
Jim McMahon, former Chicago Bears quarterback (standing on left), speaks to an audience at Chelsea Piers, Stamford, CT on Thursday, January, 16, 2014; Dr. Raymond Damadian, president of FONAR Corporation and the inventor of the MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) scanner (standing in center); and Dr. Scott Rosa a cranio-cervical specialist (sitting on right). They presented the new technology, done on the FONAR UPRIGHT® MRI, for visualizing the adequacy of CSF flow in patients with neurodegenerative disorders when they are in the UPRIGHT® position, and Dr. Rosa's technology for treating patients with impairments to their CSF flow.
The Link to the Stamford Advocate is:
http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/sports/article/Jim-McMahon-says-NFL-lawsuit-delay-a-blessing-and-5150813.php
The Link to the story featured in the Yankee Yes Network is:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7j9PLWaPWQk
About FONAR
FONAR (NASDAQ: FONR), Melville, NY, The Inventor of MR Scanning™, 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. Since its inception, nearly 300 recumbent-OPEN MRIs and 157 UPRIGHT® Multi-Position™ MRI scanners have been installed worldwide. FONAR's stellar product is the UPRIGHT® 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 sees the patient's problem that other scanners cannot because they are lie-down and "weightless" only scanners. The patient-friendly UPRIGHT® MRI has a near-zero claustrophobic rejection rate by patients. 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 they watch a 42" flat screen TV. FONAR is headquartered on Long Island, New York.
UPRIGHT® and STAND-UP® are registered trademarks and The Inventor of MR Scanning™, Full Range of Motion™, Multi-Position™, Upright Radiology™, The Proof is in the Picture™, True Flow™, pMRI™, Spondylography™, Dynamic™,Spondylometry™, CSP™, and Landscape™, 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.