Fonar Corp.

Dr. Raymond Damadian poses at the Smithsonian Institute in 1986 with Indomitable, credited with the world’s first MRI scan on July 3, 1977. [Image courtesy of Fonar Corp.]Dr. Raymond Damadian — who led a team in the 1970s that created the world’s first MRI scanner — passed away last week.

Melville, New York–based Fonar Corp. — the company he founded and chaired — confirmed the Aug. 3 death in a recent news release. Damadian was 86.

Fonar sold its first MRI scanner in 1980. Damien’s Indomitable performed the world’s first full-body MRI scan on July 3, 1977.

“For over 40 years, Dr. Damadian poured his heart and soul into this company,” said his son, Fonar CEO and President Timothy Damadian, in the release.

Damadian also demonstrated a life of great perseverance.

In a 2011 “How I Did It” article in Inc. magazine, Dr. Damadian described the years of intense legal battles in the 1990s that culminated …