June 25--Fonar Corp. (Melville, NY; www.fonar.com) has sold a Stand-Up magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system to its first US hospital, White Plains Hospital (White Plains, NY). Paul T. Khoury, director of radiology at White Plains Hospital, explains, "The Stand-Up MRI allows us to image patients in upright positions. Although physicians have always regarded normal, upright postures as clinically relevant ones, anatomic and functional visualization under such conditions has not been possible. We expect that upright imaging, or weight-bearing imaging, will allow us to make more accurate diagnoses as well as reveal pathologies that could be mischaracterized or could be missed entirely by a recumbent-only MRI scanner.
"The Stand-Up MRI is spacious; there is nothing in front of the patient's face or over head. It solves the claustrophobia problem; patients can sit comfortably and watch TV throughout the scanning process, adds Khoury.
Raymond V. Damadian, president and chairman of Fonar, says, "There are approximately 6,000 hospitals in America, most of which have high-field MRI scanners. These are invariably recumbent-only scanners and are highly claustrophobic. Dr. Khoury has determined that upright imaging is a necessary adjunct to his state-of-the-art MRI suite and that recumbent-only MRI scanning is insufficient."
The Stand-Up MRI(TM) is a whole-body MRI scanner with the ability to perform position imaging; patients can be scanned standing, sitting, bending, or lying down. Its top-open and front-open magnet design makes the scanner spacious for patients.
