She died of cancer, a disease that was beginning to kill many people all over the world. She had always had a special bond with her grandson and always supported his research. Inspired by her, Raymond began to test cancerous liver samples in rats using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) equipment. This equipment wasn’t new by any means and was already being used in bio-chemistry and geology to study rocks and minerals. It worked by putting a nuclei in a magnetic field which then emitted and reabsorbed electromagnetic radiation. This energy was at a certain frequency that depended on the strength of the magnetic fields and the magnetic properties of the isotopes of the atoms. Luckily due to his electrolyte work with Cope, he had some idea of where to go. Damadian hypothesised that the hydrogen in the cancerous tissue may differ from that of a healthy signal because cancerous tissue contained a higher amount of water, meaning there was a higher amount of hydrogen. He thought to place the cancerous and noncancerous tissues in NMR for a certain period of time and then the machine was turned off. He assumed that the emissions of the waves would tend to linger in the cancerous tissue for longer than the healthy tissue due to the excess presence of hydrogen. He tested his theory and turned out to be fully correct. Damadian was overjoyed that he was able to prove his critics wrong. His findings were published in the journal Science in March of 1971. In the article he excitedly suggested that the technology could possibly be used to help detect cancerous tissue in patients. He had a goal to combine Nuclear Magnetic Resonance with medical science. Sadly, critics were quick to point out that that Damadian’s ideas had many flaws and it wasn’t very practical. It would take thousands of dollars many days to pinpoint a specific point in the body. They also figured that it would kill the person because the machine would have to spin
She died of cancer, a disease that was beginning to kill many people all over the world. She had always had a special bond with her grandson and always supported his research. Inspired by her, Raymond began to test cancerous liver samples in rats using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) equipment. This equipment wasn’t new by any means and was already being used in bio-chemistry and geology to study rocks and minerals. It worked by putting a nuclei in a magnetic field which then emitted and reabsorbed electromagnetic radiation. This energy was at a certain frequency that depended on the strength of the magnetic fields and the magnetic properties of the isotopes of the atoms. Luckily due to his electrolyte work with Cope, he had some idea of where to go. Damadian hypothesised that the hydrogen in the cancerous tissue may differ from that of a healthy signal because cancerous tissue contained a higher amount of water, meaning there was a higher amount of hydrogen. He thought to place the cancerous and noncancerous tissues in NMR for a certain period of time and then the machine was turned off. He assumed that the emissions of the waves would tend to linger in the cancerous tissue for longer than the healthy tissue due to the excess presence of hydrogen. He tested his theory and turned out to be fully correct. Damadian was overjoyed that he was able to prove his critics wrong. His findings were published in the journal Science in March of 1971. In the article he excitedly suggested that the technology could possibly be used to help detect cancerous tissue in patients. He had a goal to combine Nuclear Magnetic Resonance with medical science. Sadly, critics were quick to point out that that Damadian’s ideas had many flaws and it wasn’t very practical. It would take thousands of dollars many days to pinpoint a specific point in the body. They also figured that it would kill the person because the machine would have to spin