A startup emerging from Rutgers University is working to transform how chronic diseases are detected, using advanced software to enhance ultrasound imaging and improve diagnostic accuracy across healthcare settings.
PONS, founded by biomedical engineer Ilker Hacihaliloglu and his twin brother Soner, is focused on identifying diseases earlier, particularly chronic conditions that often go undetected until later stages. The company’s technology was initially conceived during Hacihaliloglu’s tenure at Rutgers and is now being further developed as part of his academic role at the University of British Columbia.
The core innovation behind PONS is a software platform that enhances ultrasound images through physics-guided processing. This approach improves image clarity, standardizes structural representation across devices, and provides clinicians with more reliable data for diagnosis. The result is earlier detection and more accurate assessments, particularly in decentralized care environments.
The company is addressing a key limitation in healthcare delivery: infrequent monitoring and reliance on hospital-based imaging. By enabling high-quality imaging in community settings, PONS supports emerging models such as hospital-at-home programs and mobile diagnostic units.
PONS has also developed a navigation system that guides caregivers and nurses in capturing clinically acceptable imaging data outside traditional hospital settings. This feature is designed to expand access to diagnostic imaging while maintaining consistency and quality.
The technology has already demonstrated significant clinical potential. In collaboration with the Mayo Clinic, PONS validated its platform using 62,912 breast ultrasound scans from 688 patients. The study found that AI models trained on PONS-enhanced data achieved a 64 percent improvement in diagnostic accuracy.
Beyond improving image quality, the platform enables large-scale data expansion, increasing dataset sizes by up to 50 times. This capability supports the development of more generalizable and less biased AI models across diverse populations and imaging devices.
PONS is also designed to be vendor-agnostic, meaning it can operate across different ultrasound systems without requiring specialized hardware. The company has further demonstrated that its technology can enhance other imaging modalities, including X-ray and mammography.
The startup is currently advancing its work through a Phase I SBIR study funded by the National Institutes of Health, focusing on improving early-stage liver disease diagnosis. The project is being conducted in collaboration with clinicians at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital and the Rutgers Cancer Institute.
Based in Newark, PONS employs a small team and continues to scale its technology with the goal of expanding access to high-quality imaging, particularly in underserved regions where healthcare infrastructure is limited.
KEY QUOTES
“Our ultimate goal was, and is, to be able to identify diseases at an earlier stage, like chronic conditions. We believe that nobody should lose their loved ones to preventable diseases. The sooner we catch a disease, the sooner we can begin treatment, and the better the chances are of a successful outcome.”
Ilker Hacihaliloglu, Associate Professor, University of British Columbia
“Many leading research hospitals now operate hospital-at-home programs and are actively working to integrate imaging into these decentralized care models. We’re seeing mobile mammography units traveling through cities, handheld ultrasound devices that connect to smartphones or tablets, and portable X-ray machines designed for bedside or community use.”
Ilker Hacihaliloglu, Associate Professor, University of British Columbia
“PONS’ technology features a navigation system that we have developed so that the caregiver or nurse who has to collect data outside of a hospital setting can see where to move the probe, the transfuser, to a correct location to collect clinically acceptable data.”
Ilker Hacihaliloglu, Associate Professor, University of British Columbia
“For example, our technology can reveal small changes in a tumor that are very difficult to see on a standard ultrasound image. By making the structure and edges of a tumor clearer, it helps radiologists better understand its size and shape, which could lead to faster and more accurate diagnoses. We believe this is crucial because the workload of radiologists right now, in general healthcare workers, is a large issue; they are overwhelmed, and the hospitals are crowded. Any solution that makes the workload more efficient is an advantage to both medical professionals and their patients.”
Ilker Hacihaliloglu, Associate Professor, University of British Columbia
“PONS is filling a gap that is missing in the healthcare ecosystem, which is improving the quality of ultrasound data and scaling the size of the data. What’s more, our technology is a software solution that works on any ultrasound machine, so it’s not tied to a specific vendor, and we have done other studies as well that show PONS’ technology enhances other imaging modalities such as X-ray or mammography.”
Ilker Hacihaliloglu, Associate Professor, University of British Columbia
“In the United States, there are a lot of regions which we call health care deserts, where the nearest hospital is two or three hours away. Our technology is suitable for providing high-quality imaging to people in those areas, underserved minority groups and underrepresented groups. Because our technology is portable, it lends itself to a more decentralized care system, and we are very proud of that.”
Ilker Hacihaliloglu, Associate Professor, University of British Columbia
“The technology developed by Dr. Hacihaliloglu has the potential to help make preventable diseases even more so.”
Deborah Perez Fernandez, Executive Director, Technology Transfer Unit, Rutgers Office For Research
“PONS is a fantastic company, based on technology that was developed here at Rutgers and has the potential to have a major impact on the world.”
Vince Smeraglia, Executive Director, New Ventures, Rutgers Office For Research
