Fonar Corp., the self-proclaimed inventor of magnetic resonance imaging machines you stand up in rather than lie down, said as of today its upright MRI machines provide the best way to really see what is going on in the spine of a scoliosis patient.
The company, at the 93rd meeting of the Radiological Society of North America, unveiled a new software and receiver set, to be integrated with its machines, that lets doctors take a single picture of the entire spine, showing different angles.
Patents are still pending for the set, but Fonar said that since its method is radiation free, unlike X-rays, it is more healthy for the patient.
From Fonar’s statement:
Raymond Damadian, M.D., president and founder of FONAR, said, “I’m delighted to announce our invention for the radiation-free evaluation of scoliosis with the FONAR Dynamic™ UPRIGHT® MRI. An accurate evaluation of scoliosis requires the patient to be upright. A conventional recumbent-only static MRI cannot meet this need. Of critical importance, our radiation-free application can be performed in the same amount of time and at the same cost as diagnosis and monitoring by X-ray. I believe it’s imperative that every hospital and practice performing scoliosis examinations consider providing their patients with the radiation-free choice that is finally available because of the unique benefits of the FONAR Dynamic™ UPRIGHT® MRI.”
The FONAR images provide coronal, sagittal and axial views of the entire spine – with no radiation. The 3-plane visualizations are achieved by 3-D acquisition with curved multi-planar reconstruction. Both the Cobb angles and the angular rotation of the vertebrae are measured. The FONAR UPRIGHT® MRI has another important advantage over X-ray. It sees, not only the curvature of the vertebrae, but the soft tissue, including the spinal cord, intervertebral discs, nerve roots and spinal ligaments.
