FONAR Corporation Sells First Upright Multi-Position MRI To United Arab Emirates

MELVILLE, NY--(Marketwired - October 07, 2014) - Fonar Corporation (NASDAQ: FONR), The Inventor of MR Scanning™, today announced it has sold its UPRIGHT® Multi-Position™ MRI to a customer in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE). This will be the first sale to a customer in the United Arab Emirates. The FONAR UPRIGHT® Multi-Position™ MRI (aka Stand-Up® MRI) scanner is the world’s only MRI scanner licensed under FONAR’s multiple UPRIGHT® MRI patents to scan all the patient’s body parts in their normal multiple, fully weight-bearing UPRIGHT® positions.

After 34 years in practice in New York, Dr. Graham relocated his practice to Dubai. While in practice in New York, he had been sending his patients to an UPRIGHT® MRI. Dr. Graham said, “I understand the value of the effects of gravity on the spine. The FONAR UPRIGHT® Multi-Position™ MRI gives a picture of the biodynamics of the spine and the soft-tissue structures supporting it, that I need for my patients.

“When I came over to the Middle East to practice in Dubai, UAE,” continued Dr. Graham, “I saw a huge void in the MRI diagnostic field and became determined to fill it. I saw first-hand that there was a substantial number of claustrophobic and diabetic obese patients who refuse to go inside what people in the UAE call the ‘coffin’, i.e., a closed MRI system. In discussion with other medical practitioners, we have concluded that as much as 30% of the population will never get their MRI prescription filled so as to avoid the dreaded coffin. I am certain that the FONAR MRI system will address the psychological/claustrophobic issues.”

“In addition,” continued Dr. Graham, “the UPRIGHT® MRI will provide a much more suitable answer in diagnostic MRI to the physically restricted, diabetic and obese patient, which is at a near-epidemic state here in the UAE.”

“The mission of my clinic, Medical Diagnostic Upright (MDU) MRI, is to serve the local, as well as ex-pat population, with the ultimate in cutting-edge technology, one that is American manufactured, is the ultimate in patient comfort and luxury, and has unparalleled superiority in weight-bearing MRI diagnostics,” added Dr. Graham. “A major objective is to educate the specialty physicians of the superior quality and diagnostic value of a weight-bearing MRI scan. When they can see the difference of the ‘True Picture’ of what that spine is doing under the forces of gravity, they will make better assessments and provide more certainty in their clinical decisions in case management.”

“I’m very excited about the recent developments that Dr. Damadian and his team have achieved with Correlated Slice Protocols (CSP),” said Dr. Graham. “There is no other system in the world that can take the same slice in an MR scan in the 4 major positions of recumbent, neutral, flexion, and extension. The clinician can get the truest picture of the biodynamics at the same slice throughout all of the scan positions.”

“The UAE is the most progressive and dynamic country in the whole of the Middle East,” said Dr. Graham. “It is only fitting that the first FONAR UPRIGHT® Multi-Position™ MRI be the showcase here in Dubai. I’m looking forward to the opportunity to serve the residents of the UAE with this most needed, cutting-edge, American made, multi-positional diagnostic MRI!”

Raymond V. Damadian, M.D., president and founder of Fonar Corporation, said, “I am pleased to announce this sale of the FONAR UPRIGHT® Multi-Position™ MRI. I am pleased to see that the robust interest in FONAR’s unique UPRIGHT® weight-bearing imaging technology and its key role in optimizing patient treatment outcomes (particularly surgical outcomes) remains fully appreciated by physicians like Dr. Graham who have to bear the critical burden of achieving optimum outcomes for their patients.

“The FONAR UPRIGHT® weight-bearing MRI technology and its critical role in optimizing outcomes from spine surgery, provides unduplicated benefits in assessing the position dependence of patient symptoms. The UPRIGHT® MRI’s ability to make MRI motion pictures (cinés) of the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) as it flows into and out of the upright brain and spine enables visualization of obstructions of CSF flow not found in other MRIs and leading to new understandings of the genesis of diseases such as multiple sclerosis (MS),” said Dr. Damadian.

“Our understanding of the Cranio-Cervical Syndrome (CCS) and the vulnerability of the human neck and its impact on cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) flow began with our UPRIGHT® MRI research and findings on MS,” continued 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 head-hitting soccer players, NFL football players, whiplash patients and others with severe neck trauma, have not resulted in any obstructions of CSF flow, which would eventually lead to the symptomatology of the Cranio-Cervical Syndrome.”

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 FONAR 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 the only MRI scanner that is able to scan patients in the exact weight-loaded position that is generating their pain. It 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, then 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™, Landscape™, CSP™, Dynamic™ and Spondylometry™ 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.