Patients with peripheral varicose veins experience maximum venous engorgement in their legs when they are standing, and Upright MR venography for the evaluation of peripheral venous insufficiency would provide the most useful assessment of peripheral venous competency.

Similarly, in patients with valvular heart disease, a complete assessment of cardiac function by MR should include an assessment of the patient's cardiac function with the patient standing in his normal physiologic posture, when blood must flow against gravity and demand on the heart is maximal. MR assessment of chamber size, flow volumes, regurgitant fractions and flow velocities through valvular orifices would be determined ideally with the patient in a vertical position, when the heart must pump against its greatest load, e.g. delivering blood vertically to the brain, etc.


In the case of the myocardial ischemia resulting from coronary artery disease, the needed assessments of myocardial wall thickness and myocardial perfusion by MR would be physiologically ideal and, therefore, most relevant to assessing the state of the patient's actual cardiac function by comparing MR images of the patient in the recumbent position with his/her images in the sitting or standing position using Upright MR.

Additionally when assessing coronary blood flow for purposes of angioplasty or bypass, coronary flow would best be assessed with the patient vertical.

With close to 100 FONAR Upright MR imaging machines now installed worldwide and serving the public need of visualizing the spine and other joints under a full weight load, FONAR is now directing an increasing proportion of its R&D efforts to uses of Upright imaging in the evaluation of cardiovascular disease

About FONAR

FONAR (www.fonar.com ) 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, we have installed nearly 300 MRI scanners worldwide. FONAR's stellar product line includes the Upright MRI (also known as the Stand-Up MRI), the only whole-body MRI that performs Position imaging (pMRI) and scans patients in numerous weight-bearing positions, i.e. standing, sitting, in flexion and extension, as well as the conventional lie-down position. The FONAR Upright MRI often sees the patient's problem that other scanners cannot because they are lie-down only. With over 100,000 patients scanned, the patient-friendly Upright MRI has a near zero claustrophobic rejection rate by patients. Approximately 85 percent of patients are scanned sitting while they watch a 42" flat screen TV. Our latest MRI scanner is the FONAR 360, a room-size recumbent scanner that optimizes openness while facilitating physician access to the patient. FONAR is headquartered on Long Island, New York, and has approximately 500 employees.



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