Remembering the Inventor of MRI

(6 Minute Read plus videos. 17Aug2022)

The BibleScienceGuy with Dr. Damadian
(October 2, 2015)

Dr. Raymond V. Damadian (1936-1922) was a world-famous medical doctor and inventor who revolutionized the field of medicine.

Raymond Damadian is best known for discovering and inventing Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). This diagnostic tool is now used worldwide to detect cancer.

Dr. Damadian died recently on August 3, 2022 at the age of 86. The name of this brilliant inventor is easy to pronounce if you remember that Damadian rhymes with “Canadian” — although he was born in New York City!

Damadian discovered that tumors and normal tissue can be distinguished in live individuals by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). In 1971 he reported this discovery in a research paper in the journal Science.

Damadian invented the first MRI machine for scanning the human body. In 1977 he was the first to diagnose cancer via a full body scan of a human being.

Damadian’s lifelong drive to research cancer solutions was instigated by the death of his adored grandmother from a painful cancer when he was only 10 years old. He was driven to save lives, and through his work has saved millions of lives through the early detection of cancer via MRI.

Damadian plowed through numerous obstacles on the way to developing the MRI scanner. He wrote this in his autobiography:

These kinds of obstacles are what, to put it bluntly, separate the men from the boys. And it’s precisely where…our determination kicked in. Many people have noble and worthwhile dreams, goals, and pursuits. However, few ever achieve those goals or see their dreams become reality. This is partially due to the fact that they allow the inevitable obstacles and opposition to stop them. A great question to ask yourself when pursuing a noble task or passionate life dream is, “What would it take to stop me?”
Those who give up on their pursuits are the ones who spend the rest of their lives wondering about the “what if’s.” Those lives become filled with disappointment and regret. I had decided and determined that I would not be numbered with that group, mainly because we were well aware of the impact such a machine could make in peoples lives. So we resolved to soldier on and keep trying.
(From Gifted Mind: The Dr Raymond Damadian Story, Inventor of the MRI by Jeff Kinley with Dr. Raymond Damadian, September 2015, Master Books, p. 71)

Damadian’s work earned him multiple awards. In 1988 President Reagan awarded him the National Medal of Technology for his MRI invention. In 1989 he was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame for this invention.

In 2001 he received the $100,000 Lemelson-MIT Lifetime Achievement Award as “the man who invented the MRI scanner.” Here is the Lemelson YouTube video (4:15) describing Damadian’s MRI work.

In the book The Pioneers of NMR and Magnetic Resonance in Medicine: The Story of MRI by Mattson and Simon, the authors comment on Damadian’s work along with that of the Nobel winners Lauterbur or Mansfield:

The incredible amount of courage and pugnacity shown by Damadian, working alone with only two students, without any consistent granting, thus leading him to do most of the development of his system as a self-made man learning when required, electronics, machining, welding and many other technologies in order to build his first prototype, is exemplary for any researcher. This has to be compared with the working conditions of Lauterbur or Mansfield, both working with comfortable fundings in spacious laboratories with many colleagues and students. At least from the point of view of the merit, the work of Damadian, indeed, is considerable.

Damadian Was a Biblical Creationist

Dr. Damadian said,

“I am a young-earth creation scientist and believe that God created the world in six 24-hour days, just as recorded in the book of Genesis. By God’s grace and the devoted prayers of my godly mother-in-law, I invented the MRI scanner in 1969. The idea that scientists who believe the earth is 6,000 years old cannot do real science is simply wrong.”

Listen to Dr. Damadian’s testimony (27 seconds) in his own forceful words:

Dr. Damadian is proof that Biblical creationists can do world-class science. Moreover, this Biblical creationist’s scientific work has saved countless lives worldwide — lives of both evolutionists and creationists.

Meeting Raymond Damadian

I met Dr. Damadian at a conference in October 2015 and had several conversations with him. At age 79 he was a vigorous man who spoke animatedly with passion, personal warmth, and a keen sense of humor.

I immediately made notes of our conversations at the time so that I could accurately report on them later.

Damadian told me that he had revised his opinion that evolution is “science fiction.” He said he now considers it “scientific nonsense.” I agree with him!

Talking with Dr. Damadian at dinner

I talked with him at length about his MRI work over dinner. He felt he was bypassed for the Nobel Prize for his MRI work because the Nobel Committee did not want to give recognition to a Christian and a Biblical Creationist who believes God created the world in six regular days about 6000 years ago.

His company, employing 250+ people, makes and sells MRI machines that he invented. He sued General Electric for patent infringement on the MRI machine. He won initially in court, then won again at the appellate court, and finally won again in the Supreme Court of the US. Chief Justice William Rehnquist said, “Pay them and pay them now.” He won $129 million from the suit.

Damadian told me that in 1996 he had invented a Stand-Up MRI to do scans while a person is sitting, standing, or in any position without having to lie down inside a tube. Surprisingly, he got the idea to do this from the Bible.

Damadian said he is a Bible reader who takes Scripture seriously. He came across a Bible verse saying, “God hath made man upright” (Ecclesiastes 7:29), so he thought why not scan man upright the way he is made.

At the time I talked with Damadian, his MRI scanner machine cost $1.5 million plus $0.5 million for installation. Usually banks finance the machines over five years, but doctors start making money on the machines right away.

Damadian said that he had recently discovered what he thought is the cause of Multiple Sclerosis. Spinal fluid circulates from the brain’s ventricles through the spinal column. Misalignment of the C1 and C2 vertebrae in the neck impedes the flow of the fluid into the spinal cord resulting in increased pressure in the brain. Images from his MRI machine on MS patients show lesions where spinal fluid leaks into the brain. When the misalignment is corrected, patient symptoms have cleared up.

He also thinks this is the cause of Alzheimer’s and autism. Misalignment causes increased pressure and leakage. He thinks the aggressive birthing techniques used today cause the misalignment during the birthing process.

Nobel Prize

Damadian was denied a share of the 2003 Nobel Prize in Medicine which went to two later researchers in MRI — Lauterbur and Mansfield.

Many think Damadian should have gotten the Nobel Prize for his invention. They suspect that his prominence as a Christian and Biblical creationist was the obstacle that prevented the Nobel committee from properly recognizing his work.

For example, evolutionist Professor Michael Ruse of Florida State University wrote this:

Although he [Damadian] was the inventor of the first machine that discovers cancers through magnetic resonance imaging, the award went to two other and somewhat subsequent scientists . . .

But perhaps Dr. Damadian does have reason to feel having been slighted for the wrong reasons. He is not just an inventor, but also a very prominent Christian. And not just a Christian of any bland kind, but a Creation Scientist – one of those people who believes that the Bible, especially including Genesis, is absolutely literally true — six days of creation, Adam and Eve the first humans, universal flood, and all of the rest. It is as least as likely a hypothesis that Damadian was ignored by the Nobel committee because they did not want to award a Prize to an American fundamentalist Christian as that they did not think his work merited the fullest accolade. In the eyes of rational Europeans — and Swedes are nothing if not rational Europeans — it is bad enough that such people exist, let alone give them added status and a pedestal from which to preach their silly ideas. Especially a scientific pedestal from which to preach their silly anti-science ideas.

Is this unfair? One certainly feels a certain sympathy for the Nobel committee. Creation science is wrong and (if taught to young people as the truth) dangerous. It does represent everything against which good science stands. However, even the best scientists believe some very strange things, and if we start judging one area of their work in terms of other beliefs that they have, we could well do more harm than good. Isaac Newton, the greatest scientist of them all, had some very strange views about the proper interpretation of such Biblical books as Daniel and Revelation, and in respects believed things about the universe — its past and its future — that make today’s Creation Scientists seem comparatively mild. . . .

All of my life I have fought for evolution and against Creationism. . . . But as one who loves science above all and thinks it the greatest triumph of the human spirit — as one who has no religious beliefs whatsoever — I cringe at the thought that Raymond Damadian was refused his just honor because of his religious beliefs. Having silly ideas in one field is no good reason to deny merit for great ideas in another field. Apart from the fact that this time the Creation Scientists will think that there is good reason to think that they are the objects of unfair treatment at the hands of the scientific community.
(Ruse, M., “The Nobel Prize in Medicine – Was there a Religious Factor in this Year’s (Non) Selection?” Metanexus Online Journal, March 16, 2004.)

Former Captain Raymond Damadian of the
U.S. Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine
where he began his MRI research in 1965
stands left of the world’s first MRI medical
scanner that he invented, named
Indomitable, now part of the Smithsonian.

In Summary . . .

Raymond Damadian was one of the great scientists of the 20th century. He was convinced of the Creator of Scripture who created the universe in six regular days. For Damadian, creation requires a Creator — the God of the Bible.

Damadian was not duped by the evolutionism that deludes so many intellectuals today. How foolish is the arrogance and hubris of today — where man thinks he is so intellectually advanced and despises the wisdom of previous generations regarding the existence of a Creator!

Belief in a Creator is common sense based on looking at what has been created, just as
innumerable others have argued throughout history, including the Apostle Paul.
That which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. (Romans 1:19-20)

Damadian believed in the Great Creator. He was not fooled by the evolutionism that hoodwinks so many today. Throughout history the vast majority of mankind has known that there must be a Creator.

Damadian believed in the Great Creator and honored his written Word. Today’s intellectuals would do well to pay heed to one whose scientific discoveries far exceed those of most scientists today. Damadian has earned credibility and respect for his opinion.

Questions to Ponder

1. Have you observed someone receiving prejudicial treatment because of Biblical beliefs?
2. Are you prepared to sustain your Scriptural convictions even when experiencing discrimination or mistreatment?
3. Can you think of a way to testify to the Great Creator through Damadian’s achievement, perhaps on an upcoming doctor appointment or upon visiting someone in the hospital?

Share your thoughts on these questions in the comments below. It could encourage or help another reader.

For Christ and His Kingdom. Soli Deo Gloria. Alere Flammam Veritatis.

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©William T. Pelletier, Ph.D.
“contending earnestly for the faith”
“destroying speculations against the knowledge of God”
“for the defense of the gospel”
(Jude 1:3; 2 Cor 10:5; Phil 1:16)
Wednesday August 17, 2022 A.D.

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God, or give thanks; but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures. (Romans 1:18-23)