PONS

What PONS does

PONS is a medical imaging software company developing AI-powered ultrasound enhancement middleware for hospital radiology departments and healthcare systems. Founded in 2020 as a Rutgers University spinout by Prof. Ilker Hacihaliloglu (CSO) and Soner Hacihaliloglu (CEO), the company applies patented frequency-domain processing — specifically multi-scale Log-Gabor filtering combined with multi-layer deep feature extraction — to raw ultrasound signals, converting them into diagnostic-quality images in real time. The platform is device-agnostic and anatomy-agnostic, requiring no hardware changes to existing ultrasound systems, and produces four output channels: Standard Enhanced, Frequency Overlay A (tissue vascularity), Frequency Overlay B (lesion boundaries), and High-Contrast Mode. Deployment occurs through the on-premise PONS Edge Server Gateway integrated into existing DICOM radiology workflows with automated structured report/PDF generation.

The company targets hospital radiology, ambulatory care, and eventually decentralized care settings, with disclosed clinical validation partners including Mayo Clinic and RWJBarnabas Health, and pilot activity spanning breast cancer screening and liver disease detection. A Mayo Clinic validation study on 62,912 breast ultrasound scans reported a 64% improvement in diagnostic accuracy for AI models trained on PONS-enhanced data. Additional ecosystem relationships include Roche, Chiesi, BrightEdge/American Cancer Society, AARP AgeTech Collaborative, SOSV, and Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JLABS. The company is headquartered in Jersey City, New Jersey, with offices in London and Istanbul, and operates with 1–10 employees.

Commercially, PONS is pre-revenue. Its technology is explicitly not FDA- or CE-approved and is limited to investigational use and healthcare staff training, meaning no clinical decision can be made using PONS at present. Revenue mechanics are not publicly disclosed but appear oriented toward enterprise software licensing — likely subscription or per-deployment recurring fees — for healthcare systems, with a quote-based consultative sales motion via "Request Demo." To date the company has been funded primarily through non-dilutive grants and small equity/SAFE rounds (approximately $1.6M disclosed across 2021–2026), including an NIH SBIR Phase I grant supporting early-stage liver disease detection research.

Name

PONS

Legal name

PONS

Website

https://ponstech.co

Company type

Private

Founded year

2020

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

PONS develops AI-powered ultrasound image enhancement middleware that converts raw scans into diagnostic-quality images in real time using patented frequency-domain processing. The device-agnostic platform targets hospital radiology departments and healthcare systems, currently limited to investigational use.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

AI-Powered Medical Imaging Software

NAICS

Software Publishers (5132), Custom Computer Programming Services (541511)

SIC

Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370)

akta.pro primary industry

AI Orchestration & Imaging Analytics Platforms (Model Management/Triage) (HLACALAG)

akta.pro secondary industries

Remote Diagnostics & Point-of-Care (Connected Testing, Home Lab Devices) (HLACAPAK), Radiology Information Systems (RIS) (HLACALAB)

Keywords

• AI ultrasound imaging
• Medical image enhancement
• Diagnostic ultrasound software
• Radiology AI platform
• Ultrasound middleware

Headquarters

HQ city

Jersey City

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel

Revenue model

1. Software Licensing: PONS operates as a middleware software solution that enhances existing ultrasound systems. The revenue model likely follows a software licensing structure, potentially subscription-based for ongoing access to enhancement algorithms and updates, with pricing based on deployment scale (per facility, per device, or per-scan volume). The technology is deployed via on-premise gateway servers integrated into radiology workflows.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

PONS provides an AI-powered ultrasound image enhancement middleware platform that operates on raw ultrasound signals in the frequency domain using patented multi-scale Log-Gabor filtering to convert scans into diagnostic-quality images in real time. The device-agnostic software integrates into existing radiology workflows through the PONS Edge Server Gateway, processing DICOM images and generating automated reports without requiring hardware changes to ultrasound systems. Target customers are healthcare systems, hospital radiology departments, and ambulatory care centers.

Product overview

PONS offers a single unified product: the PONS Ultrasound Enhancement Platform. This is a device-agnostic middleware solution that enhances ultrasound imaging at the signal level using patented AI-powered multi-scale Log-Gabor filtering. The platform operates in the frequency domain to convert raw ultrasound scans into diagnostic-quality images in real time, generating four output channels (Standard Enhanced, Frequency Overlay A for tissue vascularity, Frequency Overlay B for lesion boundaries, and High-Contrast Mode). The platform is designed for integration with existing radiology workflows via the PONS Edge Server Gateway, which handles DICOM connectivity, image normalization, and automated report generation.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• PONS Ultrasound Enhancement Platform

Quantifiable outcome

• 64% improvement in diagnostic accuracy
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability3 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Mayo CliniccoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerClinical validation partner who collaborated on a landmark study using 62,912 breast ultrasound scans demonstrating 64% improvement in diagnostic accuracy with PONS-enhanced AI models. Mayo Clinic is listed as a trusted partner and logo displayed on homepage.
• Rutgers UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPONS originated as a startup from Rutgers University. Rutgers represents the foundational academic partner where the core technology was developed. Listed as trusted partner with logo displayed on homepage.
• RocheminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMajor pharmaceutical company listed as a trusted partner, potentially for diagnostic-pharma collaboration or co-development opportunities in precision medicine.
• ChiesiminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPharmaceutical company listed as a trusted partner, potentially for respiratory or rare disease diagnostic collaboration.
• RWJBarnabas HealthcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMajor New Jersey healthcare system partner providing clinical collaboration and validation opportunities. Listed as trusted partner with logo displayed.
• BrightEdge — American Cancer SocietycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerImpact fund of the American Cancer Society focused on cancer innovation. Strategic partner for cancer detection applications and market access support.
• AgeTech Collaborative by AARPcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPONS is an AgeTech Collaborative portfolio company, providing ecosystem support, market access, and validation for aging-focused healthcare technology deployment.
• University of British ColumbiacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic institution where Prof. Ilker Hacihaliloglu serves as faculty member in Department of Radiology and Medicine. Provides research collaboration and academic validation.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights7 records

Direct peers

• Caption Health (acquired by GE HealthCare): Applied AI to ultrasound image acquisition and interpretation (e.g., cardiac guidance), making it a directly comparable AI-ultrasound software peer to PONS's image-enhancement middleware.
• DiA Imaging Analysis: Provides AI-based image analysis for ultrasound, focusing on automated detection and quantification. Closely comparable as a software-only AI layer that sits on top of existing ultrasound devices.
• Ultromics: AI echocardiography platform that analyzes ultrasound images to support diagnosis. Comparable to PONS as a vendor that turns raw ultrasound into structured, AI-ready diagnostic outputs.
• Intelligent Ultrasound: AI-based simulation, guidance, and analysis tools for ultrasound practitioners. Similar in serving the ultrasound AI software market with clinical workflow integrations.
• Butterfly Network: Handheld, AI-enabled point-of-care ultrasound platform. Comparable in addressing POCUS and decentralized ultrasound, though it competes through integrated hardware + software rather than middleware.
• Exo: Combines handheld ultrasound hardware with AI workflow and imaging tools. Direct peer in the AI-ultrasound category with overlapping point-of-care and clinical use cases.

Broad incumbents

• Aidoc: Broad AI radiology platform covering CT, MRI, and X-ray triage and workflow. Comparable as an AI imaging vendor selling into hospital radiology, but with a wider modality footprint than PONS.
• Viz.ai: AI-driven radiology workflow and care coordination, anchored in stroke imaging. Adjacent as a clinical AI imaging vendor with enterprise hospital sales motion similar to PONS's.
• GE HealthCare: Largest installed-base ultrasound OEM with growing embedded AI imaging capabilities. Sets the competitive benchmark for device-side AI features that could rival third-party middleware like PONS.
• Siemens Healthineers: Major ultrasound OEM with its own AI imaging roadmap and global enterprise radiology salesforce. Relevant as both a potential partner and as the largest competitive threat to a middleware layer.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/PONS_TECH
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/ponstech

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds16 records

Investors7 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about PONS