# Upgrade of an Obsolete 3.35T DNP Polarizer to enable new HP C-13 Technology Development

> **NIH NIH S10** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO · 2020 · $1,717,144

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
The proposed upgrade of an obsolete 3.35T prototype (now one-of-a-kind & often inoperable) to a new Next-
Generation GE 5T SPINlab-QC multi-sample dissolution product polarizer is a single, research-only,
commercially-available instrument that is justified on a shared-use basis by 16 current projects (14 NIH grants)
in translational and clinical biomedical research. This S10 award is critical to enable this upgrade to state-of-the-
art addressing current limitations facing these projects. This revised application is now supported by increased
institutional support, strengthened Justification of Need, a well-established administrative infrastructure through
the UCSF Research Resource Program’s Human Imaging Core, and the UCSF Hyperpolarized MRI Technology
Resource Center. This center provides the highly experienced technical support, training, expert personnel,
ancillary equipment and infrastructure for dissemination of results/techniques to make this major high-end
instrumentation project optimally successful in its goal to provide state-of-the-art instrumentation to both intra-
and extramural users.
The 14 NIH funded (out of 16 total) research projects described in the Research Projects Section and the needs
of the P41 Center to have state-of-the-art equipment for technology development, training, and dissemination,
are the driving forces behind the purchase of this Next-Generation 5T SPINlab-QC polarizer upgrade to meet
their needs for improved hyperpolarized MR imaging. The new polarizer will provide critically-needed expanded
hyperpolarized MR imaging capabilities as well as facilitating the technology-development research to go in
exciting new directions using its capability for polarizing new agents in addition to pyruvate for future human
studies. The equipment will also be used for training a large number of students at UCSF either as part of formal
graduate courses or research projects, as well as the training of investigators from around the world through the
UCSF Hyperpolarized MRI Technology Resource Center and junior faculty supported by the Department of
Radiology and Biomedical Imaging. The multidisciplinary projects are led by investigators from 6 different
departments and are investigating a wide range of human diseases (including multiple cancers, diabetes, cardiac
disease, brain disorders, liver disease) using this stable-isotope MR molecular imaging technology to advance
clinical research and ultimately patient care.
In summary, this equipment upgrade is critically needed to remove a major bottleneck limiting this HP MRI
research and will also benefit the training of students at UCSF and external investigators nationally and
internationally through hands-on workshops, individual visits, web-conferences, website dissemination, and
collaborative multi-site research.
!

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9940040
- **Project number:** 1S10OD025077-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO
- **Principal Investigator:** Daniel B Vigneron
- **Activity code:** S10 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $1,717,144
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2020-04-15 → 2023-04-14

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9940040

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9940040, Upgrade of an Obsolete 3.35T DNP Polarizer to enable new HP C-13 Technology Development (1S10OD025077-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9940040. Licensed CC0.

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