Federal Grant Award Summary

The National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) awarded the University of California, Davis a $2.24M Project Grant (CFDA 93.286: Discovery and Applied Research for Technological Innovations to Improve Human Health) on May 12, 2026, with a completion date of April 11, 2030. The award funds development and clinical evaluation of whole-body positron emission tomography (PET) parametric imaging technology tailored for pediatric oncology patients. The research will translate the Relative Patlak (RP) plot technique—a streamlined kinetic modeling approach that derives quantitative net influx rates from late-time dynamic PET data without requiring impractical extended scanning protocols—into a practical clinical tool for pediatric cancer diagnosis and management. This methodology addresses significant limitations of current static PET imaging by enabling kinetic quantification in addition to standardized uptake values while accommodating the practical constraints of pediatric imaging, such as shorter scan durations and the lack of established pediatric-specific input function databases.

The project deliverables include development of validated parametric imaging protocols applicable to clinical total-body PET systems, establishment of pediatric reference databases to support the RP method, and clinical validation demonstrating diagnostic and quantification benefits in pediatric lymphoma and sarcoma patients. By enabling rapid kinetic measurements on routine clinical scans without separate dynamic acquisition protocols, this technology will improve disease characterization and clinical decision-making in pediatric oncology while reducing radiation exposure burden on young patients.