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WHY
DR. DAMADIAN’S DISCOVERY IS THE KEY
TO ALL MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING
“The
initial concept for the medical application of NMR, as it
was then called, originated with the discovery by Raymond
Damadian in 1971 that certain mouse tumours displayed elevated
relaxation times compared with normal tissues in vitro. This
exciting discovery opened the door for a complete new way
of imaging the human body where the potential contrast between
tissues and diseases was many times greater than that offered
by X-ray technology and ultrasound.” MRI From Picture
To Proton, McRobbie, Moore, Graves and Prince, (Cambridge
University Press, 2003).
In 1970,
Raymond Damadian, M.D., made the seminal discovery that started
MRI, namely that there is a marked difference in T1 and T2
relaxation times between normal and abnormal tissues of the
same type, as well as between different types of normal tissues.(Science,
1971)
This discovery
is significant because the ability to visualize both normal
and diseased tissue in a MR image is primarily determined
by these marked differences in T1 and T2 relaxation times.
That is, T1 and T2 provide the image contrast missing in the
prior technologies, X-ray and ultrasound.
That T1
and T2 relaxation times (T1 and T2 images) are the basis of
all magnetic resonance imaging used for medical diagnosis
is a well-known and universally accepted fact.
For example,
the FONAR CORP. v. GENERAL ELEC. CO. United States Courts
of Appeals summary (1997), as affirmed by the United States
Supreme Court and reported in the Federal Reporter, says:
“GE’s
expert witness agreed that T1- and T2-weighted images were
images whose contrast was primarily determined by differences
in T1 and T2.”
The significance
of Dr.Damadian’s discovery as it relates to Magnetic
Resonance Imaging is clear. His discovery preceded all MR
imaging, and is responsible for the powerful diagnostic capabilities
and widespread use of MRI today.
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