50 Best Business Ideas That Changed the World by Ian Wallis

Author:Ian Wallis
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978 81 8495 284 1
Publisher: Jaico Publishing House

1977 – Drs Raymond V. Damadian, Lawrence Minkoff and Michael Goldsmith (left to right), and the completed Indomitable, the world's first MRI scanner.

Professor Sir Peter Mansfield – his pioneering work on MRI was recognised with the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 2003.

Both Mansfield and Lanterbur should have become very wealthy as a result of their efforts ... However, only Mansfield was able to successfully patent his work. Lanterbur tried to, but was not supported by Stony Brook [...]this later proved to be a terribly unwise decision.

As the research emerged, commercial interests in the creation of a fully functioning MRI machine became highly active. The aim was to create a machine that could scan an entire human body and be deployed in a hospital. Both Mansfield and Lanterbur should have become very wealthy as a result of their efforts, as the medical industry was likely to spend millions on this ground-breaking research. However, only Mansfield was able to successfully patent his work. Lanterbur tried to, but was not supported by Stony Brook, which believed that the cost of taking out a patent would never be recouped – this later proved to be a terribly unwise decision.

By the late 1970s, however, another man was claiming credit for the MRI scanner. Dr Raymond Damadian had written a number of papers on MRI and had successfully lodged patents. In 1977, he also created the very first MRI scanner that could conduct an entire body scan. Damadian dubbed the 1½ ton machine 'The Indomitable' and a year later set up the Fonar Corporation to sell MRI scanners based on his successful prototype.

Commercial Impact

As the 1980s began, big business moved into the production of MRI scanners for commercial sales. However, controversy was rarely far away because Damadian pursued legal action against many companies for breaching his patents. Most famously, General Electric had to pay out $129m.

The legal fracas probably slowed the spread of the MRI machine into hospitals, but eventually the matter was settled. Lanterbur and Damadian engaged one another in a battle of words and insults over who was to take the credit for MRI, a matter that they never resolved.

Once the legal barriers were overcome, the medical establishment rapidly invested in the machines. This meant the money made could go back into research and development and be used to further improve the products. By the mid-1980s, the speed at which the machines could produce images had radically improved, and today the scans work in real time. MRIs can also produce highly detailed images of the brain and have helped to advance medical science considerably. By 2002, it was estimated that 22,000 MRI cameras were in use and over 60 million scans had been conducted. Today the MRI scanner market is worth $5.6bn globally and some of the world's biggest names, such as General Electric, Siemens and Philips Medical Systems, are all involved in their production and deployment.

By 2002, it was estimated that 22,000 MRI cameras were in use and over 60 million scans had been conducted.

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