Federal Project Grant Award Summary

The National Cancer Institute (National Institutes of Health) awarded a $712,375 Project Grant to the University of California, Berkeley under the Cancer Detection and Diagnosis Research Program (CFDA 93.394) on April 1, 2026, with a completion date of March 31, 2031. The award funds development of the ADAPT PRO system, a digitally programmable radiofrequency (RF) system designed to enable Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) of any nucleus beyond the standard hydrogen-1 (¹H) nucleus currently used in clinical MRI. The system will support imaging of X-nuclei—such as deuterium, sodium-23, phosphorus-31, and other NMR-active isotopes—either independently or simultaneously, significantly expanding diagnostic capabilities.

The primary deliverables include an innovative RF system featuring independent transmit and receive components that can be programmed on-the-fly without requiring specialized coil engineering expertise. The system is designed for mass manufacturing and will substantially reduce costs compared to existing nucleus-specific imaging tools, thereby facilitating clinical translation and widespread adoption of X-nuclei spectroscopy and MRI. The technology addresses known clinical applications in cancer, osteoarthritis, Alzheimer's disease, and other conditions by leveraging the nuclear specificity advantages of NMR/MRI to provide diagnostic information not available through conventional hydrogen-based imaging alone.