Northwestern University Thanks Fluoroscan – A 1996 Letter

By Howard J. Sweeney, M.D. for EVANBROOK Orthopedic and Sports Medicine, Associates, Ltd. May 1, 1996

Dear Mr. Grossman:

I wanted to thank you for your very impressive help with the Northwestern football team, in sending a Fluoroscan machine out to California for the Rose Bowl game. As far as I know no major football team in the United States has traveled with a fluoroscopy type machine, let alone a Fluoroscan. The Rose Bowl itself has no imaging system at all. They may be a good client for you to sell one to.

During the game an offensive lineman had an ankle injury and felt something crack in his ankle. My partner, Dr. Gregory Palutsis, took him down to the training room and took off all of his taping and put him under the Fluoroscan and found that he had no fracture. We were able to re-tape him and put him into a brace that had been for a previous ankle sprain. We brought him out to the field, he was able to run with no pain, and we put him back in for the remainder of the game. I am sure this could not have been done without the help of Fluoroscan, to rule out a fracture, after he told me he heard a crack at the time of injury in his ankle.

Before the game I spoke the television people and explained to them what you had done for us. I know they mentioned this during the broadcast. I also mentioned this to Dave Ennett of WBBM TV and he mentioned it on the radio broadcast. I also took great pains to contact Bill Jauss of the Chicago Tribune, who covers Northwestern football, and Bill mentioned it in his column in the Tribune a day or two after the Rose Bowl.

I wish to thank you. Your actions were above and beyond the call of duty, and it was very important before and during the game. At the present time, Northwestern is in the process of raising 20 million dollars, and we are including in this campaign the raising money for a hydro-therapy swim tank and a Fluoroscan. We will be letting you know in the future about purchasing one.

Once again, thank you. I sincerely appreciate your help.

Sincerely yours,
Howard J. Sweeney Head Team Physician Northwestern University Varsity Teams