Fonar Corporation and it's board of directors reported the passing of its Chairman of the Board of Directors, Raymond V. Damadian, on August 3, 2022. Highlights of the life of Dr. Raymond Damadian: Founded FONAR Corporation (1978), the first company in the MRI industry, maker of the QED80, the world's first MRI scanner (1980); Conceived the idea for MRI in 1969; Made the discovery in 1970 that is the basis for the making of every MRI image ever produced, the foundation of the MRI industry. Dr. Damadian discovered that there is a marked difference in the relaxation times of NMR (MRI) signals from normal and cancerous tissues of the same type, as well as from different types of normal tissues.

This discovery, published in the peer-reviewed journal ‘Science' in March 1971 marked the beginning of the MRI industry.; Awarded the world's first MRI patent (filed in March 1971). This patent was upheld in FONAR's successful lawsuit against General Electric in 1995.; Built the world's first MRI scanner, Indomitable, which produced the world's first MRI scan on July 3, 1977.; Awarded The National Medal of Technology by President Ronald Reagan in 1988.; Inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 1989, joining a select group of renowned pioneers, including Orville and Wilbur Wright, Henry Ford, Thomas Edison and Alexander Graham Bell. Received the Excellence in Medicine award from the Chiari & Syringomyelia Foundation (CSF) in London England on November 10, 2018.