FONAR QED 80 MRI Scanner (1980) - LEGO Model
In 1980, the first MRI scanner became commercially available: the QED 80 by FONAR.
This is a LEGO model of that scanner (minifig scale).
The company FONAR was founded in 1978 by Raymond Damadian, the inventor of an MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) machine.
FONAR is an alternating acronym for "field focused nuclear magnetic resonance". This expression described the fact that spatial resolution was not yet available and the patient had to be moved through the sweet spot to acquire each image incrementally.
Initially the method was called Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, but the nuclear part was soon to be dropped because of its negative connotation.
The QED 80 was a permanent magnet with a field strength of 0.05 Tesla (500 Gauss). It was around 18 ft wide and 6 ft in height.
It looked quite like a caravan rather than a medical modality!
1980, the first system was installed in Cleveland, Ohio, in a private practice (Ronald J. Ross, MD); clinical trials started at the beginning of 1981.
- Cover of a brochure of the system
- Actual photograph of the system on display at a trade show
The minifigs shown are Raymond Damadian (at the console), Larry Minkoff and Michael Goldsmith (the latter one is the bearded fellow). Goldsmith and Minkoff worked alongside Damadian in developing the MRI system. In fact the first human body MRI image shows a cross section of Larry Minkoff's thorax.
FONAR QED 80 MRI Scanner (1980) - LEGO Model
In 1980, the first MRI scanner became commercially available: the QED 80 by FONAR.
This is a LEGO model of that scanner (minifig scale).
The company FONAR was founded in 1978 by Raymond Damadian, the inventor of an MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) machine.
FONAR is an alternating acronym for "field focused nuclear magnetic resonance". This expression described the fact that spatial resolution was not yet available and the patient had to be moved through the sweet spot to acquire each image incrementally.
Initially the method was called Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, but the nuclear part was soon to be dropped because of its negative connotation.
The QED 80 was a permanent magnet with a field strength of 0.05 Tesla (500 Gauss). It was around 18 ft wide and 6 ft in height.
It looked quite like a caravan rather than a medical modality!
1980, the first system was installed in Cleveland, Ohio, in a private practice (Ronald J. Ross, MD); clinical trials started at the beginning of 1981.
- Cover of a brochure of the system
- Actual photograph of the system on display at a trade show
The minifigs shown are Raymond Damadian (at the console), Larry Minkoff and Michael Goldsmith (the latter one is the bearded fellow). Goldsmith and Minkoff worked alongside Damadian in developing the MRI system. In fact the first human body MRI image shows a cross section of Larry Minkoff's thorax.