Cephasonics, a leading provider of OEM ultrasound hardware and software platforms, today announced Cephasonics Ultrasound Server™ (US-Server), a software architecture for medical device companies to develop custom ultrasound applications and embed ultrasound as a controlled, software-defined subsystem—reducing integration risk, accelerating development, and protecting long-term product investment.

Ultrasound Server addresses a long-standing challenge in medical device development, where ultrasound technology has historically been delivered as a standalone system intended for human operation rather than as a software-driven subsystem that can be integrated into larger devices. As medical devices become increasingly automated, connected, and procedure-specific, developers need ultrasound to function as a component—one that can interoperate cleanly with robotics, therapy delivery, sensors, safety controllers, analytics software, and AI-based decision support.

Ultrasound Server provides this capability by acting as a thin software layer around Cephasonics’ CuSDK, our core ultrasound control and data acquisition software, which allows the ultrasound system to operate as a managed service within a device architecture. Application software communicates with the ultrasound system through a defined client–server interface, issuing structured commands and receiving ultrasound data streams without needing to manage low-level timing, hardware control, or scheduling.

“We designed Ultrasound Server to let developers treat ultrasound like any other subsystem in their device,” said Richard Tobias, Co-Founder and CTO of Cephasonics. “That separation is critical not only for system integration, but also for enabling advanced processing and AI workflows without putting real-time ultrasound operation at risk.”

This architecture allows ultrasound to be deployed flexibly within a system. In some designs, ultrasound control and processing may run on the same computer as the application. In others, ultrasound can be isolated on a dedicated processor or computer—supporting system partitioning, electrical isolation, and regulatory requirements—while AI inference, analytics, or user applications run elsewhere. Communication between the ultrasound system and the application uses a remote procedure call interface, with command-and-control handled through structured messages and ultrasound data delivered through high-performance streaming.

Ultrasound Server also enables ultrasound to produce more than just images. Through dynamically loadable data processors, developers can deploy imaging algorithms, signal processing, or AI models that generate measurements, classifications, or telemetry derived from ultrasound data. These outputs can be streamed directly to the application, supporting closed-loop control, automation, and data-driven decision making without altering the core ultrasound control software.

“Many of our customers don’t need a traditional ultrasound display,” said Randall Whiting, COO of Cephasonics. “They need interoperable control, quantitative data, AI-driven classifications, and real-time feedback their device can act on. Ultrasound Server makes that possible without forcing applications to treat ultrasound like a console.”

By separating ultrasound acquisition from application logic, Ultrasound Server reduces system complexity, accelerates development, and helps preserve software investment as hardware platforms evolve. The same client interface can be used across different Cephasonics ultrasound engines, including multi-Cicada configurations and future platforms, allowing devices to scale or upgrade while continuing to support advanced analytics and AI-driven capabilities.

With Ultrasound Server, Cephasonics delivers a software-defined foundation for embedding ultrasound into next-generation medical devices—enabling developers to integrate ultrasound as an interoperable, data-producing subsystem that supports automation, AI, and intelligent clinical workflows rather than operating as a standalone system.