Health Diagnostics’ Purchase
of Six FONAR UPRIGHT MRI’s is “Just the Beginning”
MELVILLE,
NEW YORK, October 18, 2007 - FONAR Corporation (NASDAQ-FONR),
The
Inventor of MR Scanning announced today that Health Diagnostics,
LLC has ordered six (6) FONAR UPRIGHT® Multi-Position™ MRIs.
Health Diagnostics (HD), which is headquartered in Manhattan,
New York, currently operates and/or provides management services
for 28 diagnostic imaging centers in California, New York, Florida
and Georgia. The company, which is a relative newcomer in the
business, has the goal of creating, over the next three or four
years, one of the largest networks of diagnostic imaging centers
in the country. “Not only do we want to be one of the biggest
networks, we want to be the best,” said HD founder Andrew
McKelvey and founder of Monster.com. “Positional MRI is
the most dramatic advancement in MRI technology in years. If
we intend to be the best, the UPRIGHT® MRI has to be in the
mix. This six-scanner purchase is just the beginning.”
“The FONAR
UPRIGHT® MRI provides critical diagnostic information that physicians just
can’t do without,” elaborated Mr. McKelvey. “Before FONAR brought
the UPRIGHT® MRI to market, the only position in which an MRI patient could
be scanned was lying down. Doctors had no idea what the state of a patient’s
anatomy was under normal, upright, weight-bearing conditions. Consequently, accurate
diagnoses were unattainable in many instances. The UPRIGHT® MRI, however,
can scan patients in any position. If a patient has a problem that can only be
seen when the patient is in some non-recumbent position, such as sitting up,
only the FONAR can visualize it. With anything less than the complete diagnostic
picture of the patient’s problem, the physician runs the risk of a missed
or wrong diagnosis, which could and does lead to an inappropriate treatment plan
or surgery. We view the UPRIGHT® MRI as indispensable – the future
of MRI – which is why we plan on installing them all over the country.”
About
Health Diagnostics
Health Diagnostics (HD) entered the diagnostic imaging business
in early 2007. Under the leadership of founder Andrew McKelvey,
HD plans to achieve its goal of becoming one of the largest networks
of diagnostic imaging centers in the country both by acquiring
existing imaging centers and by creating entirely new ones. The
HD network will include multi-modality centers, meaning the centers
will be equipped with several types of major diagnostic imaging
equipment, such as MRI, CT and PET scanners. Andrew McKelvey
is the founder and former chairman and CEO of Monster.com.
About FONAR
FONAR© was incorporated in 1978,
making it the first, oldest and most experienced MRI manufacturer
in the industry. FONAR
introduced the world's first commercial MRI in 1980, and went
public in 1981. Since its inception, FONAR has installed hundreds
of MRI scanners worldwide. The company’s stellar product
line includes the FONAR UPRIGHT® Multi-Position™ MRI
(also known as the STAND-UP® MRI), the only whole-body MRI
that performs Full Range of Motion™ (ROM) Multi-Position™ imaging
(mpMRI™) that enables patients to be scanned in numerous
weight-bearing positions, i.e. standing, sitting, in flexion,
in extension and, in particular, in the position that generates
symptoms, so that a picture can be obtained of the actual pathology
giving rise to the patient's symptoms (e.g. pain). The scanner
also performs all the scans of a conventional MRI with the patients
in the usual lie-down position. The FONAR UPRIGHT® Full Range
of Motion™ (ROM) Multi-Position™ MRI often sees the
patient's problem that other scanners cannot, because they are
lie-down only. Approximately 85% of patients are scanned sitting
while they watch a 42" flat screen TV.
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The Inventor of MR Scanning, Full
Range of Motion, pMRI, Multi-Position, True
Flow and The Proof is in the Picture are trademarks
and UPRIGHT® and STAND-UP® are
registered 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.
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