This $1,063,155 Project Grant awarded by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) under the Cancer Cause and Prevention Research program (CFDA 93.393) aims to develop and test a novel quality assurance (QA) device for advanced radiation therapy techniques. The device, named the RetrieveTM, will enable more precise, efficient, and comprehensive QA compared to existing solutions. The project seeks to: 1) refine the hardware to measure machine performance metrics to within 0.5 mm and 1% relative dose,...
This Project Grant award, funded by the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) under the "Discovery and Applied Research for Technological Innovations to Improve Human Health" program (CFDA 93.286), aims to develop a rapid, inexpensive microfluidics-based approach for dose-on-demand production of ready-to-inject radiopharmaceuticals. The $1,149,264 award to the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center will fund the development of a...
This Project Grant award from the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB), under the "Discovery and Applied Research for Technological Innovations to Improve Human Health" program (CFDA 93.286), provides $811,503 to develop an innovative, quantitative radiation imaging tool. The goal is to create a device that allows researchers and radiopharmaceutical developers to visualize the spatial distribution and isotopic composition of targeted alpha therapy...
This Project Grant award of $406,832.00 from the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) under the Discovery and Applied Research for Technological Innovations to Improve Human Health program (CFDA 93.286) aims to develop novel boron-dipyrromethene (BODIPY) based photo-uncaging groups. The research will focus on creating efficient red-to-near-infrared (red-to-NIR) light-responsive materials that can enable low-power LED-driven photo-uncaging for applications such as...
The National Cancer Institute (NCI) awarded a $898,497 Project Grant under the Cancer Cause and Prevention Research program (CFDA 93.393) to Radiopharmaceutical Imaging and Dosimetry, LLC (RAPID) for the development of a cloud-based, customer-responsive dosimetry tool for alpha-particle emitting radiopharmaceutical therapies. The funding will enable RAPID to build upon its previous work and transition from a radiological protection-based dosimetry paradigm to one focused on normal tissue...
The Department of Energy's Office of Science awarded a $199,962 Project Grant to Radiation Monitoring Devices, Inc. (RMD), a subsidiary of Dynasil Corporation of America, to develop low-cost, lightweight doped polymer coatings for microelectronics via 3D printing. This grant, funded under the Office of Science Financial Assistance Program (CFDA 81.049), supports research into advanced radiation detection and measurement technologies. RMD, a small business specializing in radiation detection...
This Project Grant award from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) Biomedical Research and Research Training Program (CFDA 93.859) provides $351,010 to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to support the development of cationic carbone-boracycles as far-red and near-infrared (NIR) photoactive agents for potential applications in tumor diagnosis and treatment. The key products and services to be delivered under this 5-year award include the rational design,...
This $644,622 Project Grant award from the National Cancer Institute (CFDA 93.395 - Cancer Treatment Research) to the Regents of the University of Michigan will develop tools and predictive models to enable dosimetry-guided radiopharmaceutical therapy (RPT) for metastatic castrate resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC). The key objectives are to: 1) develop a novel method for bone marrow dosimetry using macro/micro Monte Carlo modeling; 2) build models to predict absorbed dose from pre-therapy PET...
The National Cancer Institute (NCI) awarded a $400,000 Project Grant under the Cancer Detection and Diagnosis Research program (CFDA 93.394) to O2M Technologies LLC, a small for-profit company in Chicago, IL. The purpose of this 1-year grant, with a period of performance from September 2024 to August 2025, is to develop a multifunctional electron paramagnetic resonance imaging (EPRI) instrument. This new instrument will be capable of simultaneously generating detailed 3D maps of tissue oxygen...
The National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) awarded a $275,773 Project Grant under the Discovery and Applied Research for Technological Innovations to Improve Human Health program (CFDA 93.286) to Dropletpharm Inc., a for-profit company. The grant supports Dropletpharm's development of microfluidic technologies to enable low-cost and distributed manufacturing of radiopharmaceuticals for clinical and research applications. Specifically, the project aims to expand...
AFFORDABLE, UV-, HEAT- AND WATER-RESISTANT RADIOCHROMIC FILM COMPOSED OF DIACETYLENES HAVING CHROMOPHORIC GROUPS - PROJECT SUMMARY: SELF-DEVELOPING, INSTANT RADIOCHROMIC FILMS BASED ON THE SOLID-STATE POLYMERIZATION OF DIACETYLENES (R-C=C-C=C- R', WHERE R AND R' ARE SUBSTITUENT GROUPS) ARE USED FOR MEASURING RADIATION THERAPY DOSE. CURRENTLY AVAILABLE RADIOCHROMIC FILMS, E.G., THE GAFCHROMICTM EBT FILMS FROM ASHLAND (BRIDGEWATER, NJ, USA), HAVE MANY DRAWBACKS SUCH AS THEY ARE VERY EXPENSIVE, SENSITIVE TO WATER AND AMBIENT UV LIGHT, REQUIRING COLD STORAGE AND SHIPPING, A SHORT SHELF-LIFE, DELAMINATION OF THE COATING IF BENT SHARPLY OR CUT, NON-UNIFORM COATING REQUIRING A YELLOW DYE FOR THICKNESS CORRECTION, ETC. THESE SHORTCOMINGS HAVE PREVENTED THEIR BROADER USE IN RADIATION THERAPY CLINICS. HENCE, THERE IS A STRONG NEED FOR MORE ECONOMICAL RADIOCHROMIC FILMS, WHICH DO NOT HAVE THE DRAWBACKS OF COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE RADIOCHROMIC FILMS. ONE OF THE PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATORS, G.N. PATEL, IS ONE OF THE EARLY PIONEERS IN THE FIELD OF DIACETYLENES AND IS STILL ACTIVE IN THE FIELD. HIS COMPANY, JP LABORATORIES, INC., HAS DEVELOPED RADIATION DOSIMETERS AND RADIOCHROMIC FILMS FOR RADIATION PROTECTION AND OTHER NON-MEDICAL APPLICATIONS. UTILIZING HIS EXTENSIVE EXPERIENCE IN DIACETYLENE CHEMISTRY AND SYNTHESIS, WE WILL SYNTHESIZE A CLASS OF DIACETYLENES, WHICH HAVE A CHROMOPHORIC GROUP AS A SUBSTITUENT GROUP, E.G., R = (CH2)N-OCONH-(CH2)N-A, WHERE N=1-4, A IS A LIGHT YELLOW COLOR CHROMOPHORIC GROUP. THE CHROMOPHORIC DIACETYLENES (CD) WILL BE PRODUCED BY REACTING DIACETYLENE DIOLS WITH CHROMOPHORIC ISOCYANATES. THEN, CD-BASED EMULSION, A COATING FORMULATION, WILL BE PREPARED AND UNIFORMLY COATED ON A POLYESTER FILM SUBSTRATE TO CREATE A CD FILM. DIACETYLENE DIOLS ARE SIGNIFICANTLY LESS EXPENSIVE THAN THOSE USED TO MAKE GAFCHROMICTM FILMS. THE RADIOCHROMIC FILMS MADE FROM CHROMOPHORIC DIACETYLENES, THE CD FILM, WILL HAVE NONE OF THE DRAWBACKS OF GAFCHROMICTM FILMS. THE CHROMOPHORIC GROUP WILL ABSORB UV LIGHT. HENCE THE CD FILM WILL NOT DEVELOP COLOR UPON EXPOSURE TO AMBIENT UV LIGHT. THE CD FILM WILL NOT REQUIRE A YELLOW MARKER FOR THE THICKNESS CORRECTION BECAUSE THE CD IS YELLOW. DIACETYLENES WITH URETHANE (- OCONH-) FUNCTIONALITY USUALLY HAVE A HIGHER MELTING POINT (ABOVE 100C), RESULTING IN A LONGER SHELF-LIFE, AND ARE NOT AFFECTED BY WATER/HUMIDITY. BECAUSE OF THE HIGH MELTING POINT OF CD, THE CD FILM CAN BE BRIEFLY HEATED TO ELIMINATE THE POST-IRRADIATION CHANGE OF MEASURED DOSE, ALLOWING AN INSTANT READING OF THE RADIATION DOSE. IN THE FIRST STAGE OF THE PROJECT, SMALL QUANTITIES OF CHROMOPHORIC DIACETYLENES WILL BE SYNTHESIZED, INKS/EMULSIONS MADE OF CD WILL BE COATED ON A SUBSTRATE TO MAKE THE RADIOCHROMIC FILMS, AND THE PROTOTYPE FILMS WILL BE EVALUATED. THE BEST PERFORMING CD FILM WILL BE SELECTED, AND A SUFFICIENT QUANTITY OF THE FILM WILL BE MADE FOR THE EXTENSIVE EVALUATION FOR RADIATION THERAPY APPLICATIONS. IN THE SECOND STAGE, THE CHOSEN CD FILM WILL BE ASSESSED FOR THE EFFECT OF DOSE, DOSE RATE, ENERGY, UV LIGHT, WATER/HUMIDITY, AND HEAT (SHELF-LIFE). JP LABS AND THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA FACILITIES ARE FULLY EQUIPPED TO CARRY OUT THE PROPOSED WORK.