FONAR Stand-Up MRI Opens New Market Segment for Upright Imaging.

Business Editors/Health & Medical Writers

RSNA 2002

MELVILLE, New York--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 16, 2002

FONAR Corporation (NASDAQ:FONR)

   FONAR Stand-Up MRI Opens New Market Segment for Upright Imaging

     Valuable New Tool For Visualizing the Anatomy Changes of the
                        Pelvic Floor Syndrome

       Demonstrated at RSNA 2002 -- Potential Help to Millions

FONAR Corporation (NASDAQ:FONR), The MRI Specialist(TM), reported today that its Stand-Up(TM) MRI scanner was successful in diagnosing pelvic floor prolapse. Crucial to the success of this diagnosis was scanning the patient in the upright, weight-bearing position. The case study was displayed at the FONAR exhibit at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) last week.

The patient was a multiparous (multiple pregnancies) post-menopausal woman who had a recurrent, chronic urinary tract infection. She had been to three specialists, including two urologists and a gynecologist, and was being treated with various antibiotics causing secondary gastroesophagitis. Her gynecologist suggested to her that her problem might relate to a prolapse of the urinary bladder (cystic prolapse), but her two urologists disagreed. The urologists insisted from their physical examinations performed with the patient lying down that there was no cystic prolapse.

Pelvic floor prolapse refers to a composite of pelvic conditions, e.g. bladder prolapse (cystocele), uterine prolapse, rectal prolapse (rectocele), that arise from weakening of the pelvic floor under the force of gravity when the levator sling that supports these organs has been stretched or torn by the traumas of childbirth coupled with aging. Rectal prolapse is the part of the syndrome that occurs with lesser frequency in the aging male population.

The patient came to FONAR's Stand-Up(TM) MRI scanner in Melville, New York. She was scanned in the typical recumbent, (lying-down) position, in the standing-upright position and a third time in the standing-upright position with pelvic straining.

Raymond Damadian, president and founder of FONAR, said, "When we looked at the images of this patient, the bladder was in its normal position in the recumbent scan. There was no evidence of pelvic floor prolapse. When we scanned her standing, her bladder and uterus fell well below the pubo-coccygeal line, the standard radiologic landmark that marks the line above which these organs are normally situated in the standing young adult. There was even further descent of the bladder and uterus when the patient was scanned upright with pelvic straining. The bladder prolapse was not visible in this patient except for the ability to scan the patient upright in the Stand-Up(TM) MRI. The ability to visualize the exact anatomy in patients with this symptomatology of bladder or rectal incontinence will be extremely helpful to surgeons so they can know exactly, in advance of surgery, the structural defects of anatomy in need of repair.

"In some studies, up to 50% of women over the age of 50 who have borne children experience some degree of pelvic prolapse. 10-20% of these have symptoms including pelvic pressure, protrusion of tissue through the pelvic floor, and urinary incontinence. The Stand-Up(TM) MRI, in addition to its ability to make a major contribution to diseases of the spine, will no doubt become a valuable aid in evaluating pelvic floor cases, one of the many fruitful benefits to come from imaging the patient upright."

Be sure to visit FONAR's Web site for Company product and investor information.

www.fonar.com

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