ALTHOUGH NUCLEAR MAGNETIC RESONANCE (MR) had been demonstrated in 1946 and had grown into a major analytic instrument in chemistry and physics over the subsequent decades, it was not until 1973 that Dr Paul Lauterbur demonstrated its imaging capabilities. Two years earlier, in 1971, Dr Ray Damadian published his work in Science that described relaxation differences between cancerous and normal cells. A natural question was whether the two discoveries would merge. Sharad Amtey, PhD, a medical physicist and innocent bystander to these events, was in Europe a short time later and had the opportunity to discuss these developments with Drs Mallard, Hutchison, and the Aberdeen group and Dr Peter Mansfield and his colleagues in Nottingham, who convinced him of the promise of this new imaging modality. Because he witnessed and participated in the birth, growth, and evolution of nuclear medicine, Dr Amtey's interest was piqued.
On his return to Houston, Dr Amtey realized that for the exciting new modality to be brought not only into the marketplace but also into clinical application a concerted cooperative effort between basic scientists and physicians would be required. Specifically, he believed that a massive developmental effort and sharing of information beyond that which normally occurs in the university setting was required to demonstrate the utility of MR imaging to physicians.