Cephasonics Expands Market Presence, Enters Ultrasound Research Market with Large-Channel-Count Modular System Offering Up to 4,096 Channels

SANTA CLARA, Calif., Feb. 28, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Cephasonics, a technology-innovation leader with a game-changing embedded-ultrasound platform, today announced its entry into the ultrasound research market with the introduction of the cQuest Griffin™  and cQuest Firebird™  research systems. The rack-mounted cQuest Griffin, available in 1,024, 2,048 and 4,096-channel configurations, is the world's first-ever commercial large-channel-count ultrasound research platform. The cQuest Firebird is a flexible and configurable 64-channel baseline ultrasound research platform.

"Leading research and academic institutions around the world are actively exploring new applications of ultrasound technology in such areas as capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducers, unique-geometry transducers, elastography and photoacoustics. Our large-channel-count cQuest Griffin research system allows researchers to conduct cutting-edge beam-formation research with large-element-count 2D matrix arrays that translates into clinical breakthroughs," said Richard Tobias, CEO and president of Cephasonics. "It provides an unrivaled ultrasound generator and data-acquisition system of up to 4K channels for RF or baseband operation with an optional beamformed B-mode path for positioning." He added that when research institutes are grappling with a difficult make-or-buy decision, the cQuest Griffin affords an enormous savings in development resources, time and money.

Mr. Tobias further explained that the Cephasonics solutions let researchers use a familiar front-end MATLAB® user interface and concentrate on ultrasound-research advancements rather than learning a new language. Researchers can start writing code immediately on the compact, lower cost cQuest Firebird and then switch once they take delivery of the larger channel-count cQuest Griffin. The underlying powerful and feature-rich cQuest Ultrasound API™  software is common to all cQuest Ultrasound™ research/production systems. Thus, researchers who spin out the research into existing companies for next-generation products or who form start-ups gain a fast path to production.

The cQuest Griffin research system is comprised of Nx128-channel transmitter modules that include delay and pulsing circuitry for each channel, Nx128-channel receiver modules that include TGC and analog-to-digital conversion circuitry, and Nx128-channel DSP modules that include demodulation, filtering and optional decimation. An optional beamformed data path allows quick imaging or verification of probe placement. The acquisition, processing and control blades are housed in a rack with the acquired ultrasound data available to the user via a shared memory interface.

The cQuest Firebird research system is a completely contained compact 64-channel baseline solution that includes all the necessary analog front-end circuitry, parameterized beam-formation circuitry for both transmit and receive, ultrasound-specific high-voltage power supplies, optional mid-processing functions, PCIe and USB back-end host interfaces and multiplexed probe interfaces.  It is powered by a single 15V DC input from the included AC/DC power supply. The multiple data-output formats supported include RF channel data, beamformed RF data, I/Q down converted data, and logarithm grayscale 8-bit. The system interfaces to virtually any probe with up to 192 elements, including phased array, linear, convex and custom probes.

For more details about these products, visit www.cephasonics.com.

Pricing and Availability
Pricing for the baseline 64-channel cQuest Firebird is $60,000.  The system is available for order now with expected delivery in Q2 2013.

Pricing for cQuest Griffin starts at $1 million for a 1,024-channel configuration. The system is available for order now with expected delivery in 2013.

Academic and volume discounts are available; for more information, contact [email protected].

About Cephasonics
A technology-innovation leader with a game-changing embedded-ultrasound platform, Cephasonics provides a complete range of cQuest™-based technology, semiconductor and subsystem products that increase the performance, lower the power and accelerate time-to-market of ultrasound devices. The company's cQuest Ultrasound API™ software is the catalyst for customer innovations that are spurring a revolution in ultrasound from image-guided procedures to ultrasound as an appliance. Launched with a management buyout in March 2012 and headquartered in Santa Clara, Calif., Cephasonics' technology and semiconductor products, including its AutoFocus™ beamforming technology and its SAM1600 family of ADCs, have won multiple industry awards for innovation. Additional information about Cephasonics can be found at www.cephasonics.com.

cQuest, cQuest Ultrasound, cQuest Ultrasound API, cQuest Griffin, cQuest Firebird, and AutoFocus are trademarks of Cephasonics. MATLAB is a registered trademark of MathWorks.

Photos available upon request.

Company Contact:
Judy Kahn
(650) 996-0936
[email protected]

SOURCE Cephasonics, Inc.