How UC Irvine startup SoundDose is tackling one of cancer care’s biggest unknowns
A Century of Refinement
Soon after X-rays were discovered in 1895 as a way to see inside the human body, physicians began using that same technology to treat cancer. But early efforts in radiation treatment were imprecise. Therapy was delivered broadly, often affecting both tumors and healthy tissue alike. Over time, advances in imaging and delivery began to narrow that focus.
“We’re delivering a much more focused beam of radiation than in the past,” Peterson says. “It used to be broad, more like a softball. Then it became more concentrated, like a baseball. Now it’s a pencil-thin beam with protons. That level of precision is powerful, but it only works if you know you’re hitting the exact target.”
Technologies such as CT scans have made it possible to map tumors with increasing accuracy. Yet even as precision improved and treatment plans became more sophisticated, a central limitation remained. Clinicians can determine where radiation should be delivered, but they have lacked a way to confirm, as treatment unfolds, where it’s deposited.
Radiation therapy still operates on delayed feedback. It’s often months later that physicians can evaluate the outcome. The process is careful, but not in real time feedback.
“Radiation therapy has significant side effects because we can’t fully see what’s happening inside the patient during treatment,” Xiang says. “We can’t visualize where the radiation dose is delivered. We rely on treatment plans and computer simulations, but we don’t have a way to measure it as it happens.”
Radiation damages cancer cells, but it can also affect nearby healthy tissue. When treatment is less precise, radiation exposure can extend beyond the intended target. In some cases, it increases the risk of developing a second cancer years later.
Peterson often thinks of a close friend now living with stage four throat cancer, a diagnosis tied to radiation treatment she received for breast cancer three decades earlier, when the technology was far less precise. What once saved her life may also have set the stage for another disease. It’s a stark reminder of what is still missing in radiation therapy today.
Making Radiation Visible
When a radiation beam interacts with tissue, it generates faint acoustic waves as energy is deposited. These are known as radiacoustic signals. Because these signals originate from the sites of energy deposition, they inherently encode where the radiation dose is delivered. SoundDose uses an ultrasound probe to detect these radiacoustic signals, providing real-time information where radiation is being deposited. At the same time, the probe performs ultrasound imaging to visualize the tumor and surrounding organs. The result is an image that displays both anatomy and radiation dose, which enables clinicians to see the target and the treatment in real time.
“This is the only technology that can do this so far,” Xiang says.
Existing tools can estimate dose or visualize surfaces, but they cannot directly measure radiation delivery deep within the body. That visibility changes how radiation therapy is delivered.
Today, treatment largely follows an open loop model, meaning it’s guided by a plan but not adjusted based on what is happening during delivery. SoundDose introduces feedback into that process. By tracking the tumor and measuring the radiation dose at the same time, the system allows clinicians to adjust treatment during delivery. If the beam shifts or the delivered dose falls short of the plan, corrections can be made immediately. Treatment becomes adaptive rather than fixed. It closes the loop by turning radiation therapy from a process based on planning into one guided by feedback.
“That’s a major breakthrough,” Xiang says.
The company plans to focus first on prostate cancer, where precise targeting is especially important due to the proximity of sensitive organs. The prostate sits near the bladder and rectum, and even modest off-target exposure can lead to lasting complications affecting urinary and bowel function.
“We want to make sure we only treat the prostate cancer without damaging other critical organs,” Xiang says. “Our technology is able to do that.”
While prostate cancer is the initial focus, the team sees broader applications across all cancers treated with radiation. Improvements at the level of a single treatment can ripple outward, shaping how care is delivered across entire systems.
“This allows clinicians to deliver treatment more accurately and safely for patients, while also making the process more efficient for hospitals,” Peterson says.
Between Research and Reality
The work that led to SoundDose began in Xiang’s lab at UC Irvine, where the underlying technology was developed. The UC Irvine Beall Applied Innovation team later introduced Xiang to Peterson, who brought experience in building and scaling medical technology companies. SoundDose was incorporated in September 2025. It reflects the kind of pathway UC Irvine has built to move research into real-world use. It has remained involved as the startup moves toward licensing its technology and preparing for market entry, by offering guidance, connections, and infrastructure along the way.
“They didn’t introduce us and then walk away,” Peterson says.
The university may have helped bring these pieces together, but the idea itself emerged from the intersection of engineering and medicine. SoundDose would not exist without Xiang’s ability to bridge disciplines. He trained as an engineer during his Ph.D. and later as a postdoc in radiation oncology at Stanford. At UC Irvine, he holds a joint appointment in the Samueli School of Engineering and the School of Medicine, allowing him to approach clinical problems with both perspectives.
“SoundDose reflects how engineering and medicine can come together to solve real clinical problems,” he says. “I can identify challenges in the clinic, and I have the engineering students and resources to develop solutions.”
Xiang’s lab has secured more than $15 million in federal funding to develop and validate the technology, including a recent grant from the National Cancer Institute.
“We were very lucky,” Xiang says. “We recently received a $3.6 million grant for five years, with an almost perfect score. That support is why I believe we’re ready to commercialize it.”
But translating that research into a company requires a different kind of capital, one that has grown harder to access. SoundDose is entering the market at a moment when funding for early-stage medical technology has become more uncertain. Traditional sources of startup funding, such as the federal Small Business Innovation Research program, were temporarily disrupted after the program’s authority expired in 2025. This creates additional challenges for young companies trying to move to market.
From Promise to Practice
Each major step in radiation therapy has made treatment more visible and precise. X-rays revealed the interior of the body. CT scans mapped tumors in detail. Advances in beam technology improved targeting. SoundDose makes the radiation visible as it’s delivered. Xiang sees this progression as part of a broader shift in medicine toward treatments that are not only precise but responsive.
“We want to make radiation therapy more like precision therapy,” he says.
That vision is still taking shape. SoundDose is also pursuing strategic partnerships with leaders in radiation therapy, a move that could significantly accelerate its path to market. A collaboration would integrate SoundDose’s technology directly into existing radiation delivery systems, placing it within the machines already used to deliver radiation in hospitals. For a young company, that kind of alignment with an established industry player offers a direct route into clinical settings. It also brings the technology closer to the point where its impact can be measured in patient care.
For more than a century, radiation therapy has relied on careful planning and informed assumptions, with clinicians often waiting weeks or months to understand how a treatment performed. SoundDose points toward a different model, one where treatment is not just calculated in advance, but directly observed as it unfolds. It’s a shift that could change not only how radiation is delivered, but what doctors know at the moment it matters most.