Sonus and Medtronic test AI wearable ultrasound for pregnancy risk screening in Kenya

Sonus Microsystems said it is collaborating with Medtronic to integrate its AI-powered wearable ultrasound patch with Medtronic acute-care monitoring tech. Gates Foundation–funded studies in Nairobi will evaluate the combo for screening pregnant women at risk of early-onset preeclampsia.

Same-day HEALTH primary that wearable autonomous ultrasound and a big-device monitoring stack are being field-tested for maternal risk screening in Kenya, with Gates Foundation Grand Challenges support. This is a discrete partnership and study launch — not a proven clinical result.

The collaboration will evaluate an integrated, non-invasive monitoring system in field studies in Kenya, the company said. Non-invasive here means the system is meant to gather data without surgery. File that Kenya evaluation as Sonus’s. This desk did not visit a clinic.

Aim, still company — study aim, not a proven outcome: the combined technologies are meant to provide clinically relevant cardiac and hemodynamic data to support screening and triage of pregnant women at risk of early-onset preeclampsia. Hemodynamic means how blood moves through the body. Preeclampsia is a dangerous pregnancy complication with high blood pressure and organ stress. Early-onset means it shows up earlier in pregnancy, when risk is often higher. Triage means deciding who needs faster or more intensive care. File that job as the study’s stated aim. This desk is not treating it as a completed clinical result.

Funding, company: the work is funded by the Gates Foundation under its Grand Challenges program. File that funder and that program name as Sonus’s. This desk did not see a grant agreement or a dollar amount. None was printed.

Study partners, still company: the study will be coordinated with Kenyatta University and antenatal facilities in Nairobi, Kenya. Antenatal means pregnancy care before birth. File those names and that city as Sonus’s. This desk is not inventing a hospital list, an enrollment number, or a start date beyond the announce.

Company context on the need — attribute, do not independently certify: preeclampsia affects roughly eight percent of pregnancies globally and remains a major driver of maternal and fetal mortality in low-and-middle-income countries. Screening, the company says, still relies primarily on blood pressure measurement. File the eight-percent line and that blood-pressure-only picture as Sonus’s. This desk did not recount a registry.

Product claim, still company — attribute: the Sonus Patch is designed to automatically locate relevant anatomy and acquire clinical-grade images without expert positioning, so nurses, community health workers, and other non-specialists can capture data that previously required a cardiology lab and skilled technicians. File that autonomous-ultrasound pitch as Sonus’s. This desk did not watch a scan or certify image quality.

Named voices on the company page: Hani Eskandari, chief executive of Sonus; Rick Sethi, Senior Director of Research & Technology and Open Innovation, Medtronic Acute Care & Monitoring; Joshua de Souza, Senior Principal Scientist, Medtronic Acute Care & Monitoring, and Principal Investigator on the Gates Foundation grant; and Carlos Gerardo, Director of R&D at Sonus. File the names and titles as theirs, via Sonus. Their quotes are color only and stay in Sources. Medtronic executives are on-record in the same company release.

Plain English for the rest of the card: preeclampsia = a dangerous pregnancy complication with high blood pressure and organ stress. Hemodynamic = how blood moves through the body. Ultrasound patch = a wearable sensor that uses sound waves to image inside the body without surgery. Non-invasive = gathering data without cutting the body. Antenatal = pregnancy care before birth. Triage = deciding who needs faster or more intensive care. Grand Challenges = the Gates Foundation program that funds this study.

PRIMARY here: Sonus Microsystems’ 15 Sep 2026 company newsroom — Tier A PRIMARY company source, the original record — plus the same-day GlobeNewswire / Financial Post syndicate of that same originating text. Medtronic executives are quoted on-record in the company release. Trade coverage on Medical Product Outsourcing is same-day context only, not the sole source. The collaboration, the Sonus Patch plus Medtronic Acute Care & Monitoring integration, the Kenya field studies, the cardiac / hemodynamic screening-and-triage aim, the Gates Foundation Grand Challenges funding, Kenyatta University and Nairobi antenatal facilities, the roughly-eight-percent preeclampsia line, the autonomous-ultrasound product claim, and the Eskandari / Sethi / de Souza / Gerardo names are company-attributed. Efficacy and outcome claims stay study aims — not proven results. NOT claimed: FDA clearance, a CE mark, enrollment numbers, endpoints met, a commercial launch or ship date, independently verified clinical benefit, that the studies have already proven the combo works, that this desk visited Nairobi or reviewed a grant file, a stock tip, or investment advice. Distinct from the already-filed openevidence-penn-medicine, microstructure-imaging-micsi-pet-fda, kairon-health-5m, powerful-medical-queen-of-hearts-fda-de-novo, nvidia-chop-cardiac-monai, evvy-40m-series-b, hello-patient-acquires-converse, unc-openai-foundation-40m-cancer-vaccines, and gates-foundation-1b-ai-access.