# A liquid helium-free preclinical polarizer for hyperpolarized 13C metabolic imaging

> **NIH NIH S10** · UT SOUTHWESTERN MEDICAL CENTER · 2020 · $600,000

## Abstract

The Advanced Imaging Research Center (AIRC) on the campus of UT Southwestern Medical Center has a
team of engineers, physicists, chemists, and clinicians focused on translating hyperpolarized 13C tracers of
metabolism from preclinical animal models of disease to human patients. Our current DNP polarizer , the
HyperSense, is now 12 years old and for the past 2 years, we have experienced long non-operational
periods, often months at a time due to lack of parts and service from Oxford Instruments and an
inconsistent liquid helium supply during certain times of the year. This S10 proposal is to request support
for the purchase of a newly designed, liquid helium-free, pre-clinical DNP polarizer called the SpinAligner.
This polarizer is fundamentally important to this Unversity’s hyperpolarized 13C metabolic imaging
program. Twenty two individual investigators (8 Major Users and 14 Minor Users) have NIH funded
projects described in this application that will be impacted by the SpinAligner. The development of a new
pre-clinical imaging space that consists of the SpinAligner sitting next to a new helium-free 3T pre-clinical
MR scanner (University commitment) will dramatically catalyze our productivity in developing new probes
to study metabolism in a variety of animal models of human disease.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9939339
- **Project number:** 1S10OD028490-01
- **Recipient organization:** UT SOUTHWESTERN MEDICAL CENTER
- **Principal Investigator:** Janaka Wansapura
- **Activity code:** S10 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $600,000
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2020-04-15 → 2023-04-14

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9939339

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9939339, A liquid helium-free preclinical polarizer for hyperpolarized 13C metabolic imaging (1S10OD028490-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9939339. Licensed CC0.

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