About Us - Sonic Concepts, Inc.

Improving & Saving Lives

With a vision of making peoples’ lives better and a guiding philosophy that a collaborative and creative culture is imperative for true INNOVATION, Sonic Concepts strives to be a global partner in developing CUSTOM non-invasive therapeutic focused ultrasound clinical solutions.

MEET OUR LEADERSHIP TEAM

Our Culture

Shared values guide our development.

We believe that when pushed to look at things through a new lens, humans are more likely to come up with creative solutions, great breakthroughs, and game-changing achievements.

Leading Through Innovation

A lot of our interdisciplinary team’s ideas are “out of the box” – which is a required element to creating ingenious solutions to age-old problems and first-of-kind treatments.

Surpassing Customer Expectations

“At Sonic, we don’t simply give partners what they ask for — we iterate together until we get to what you really need.”

– George Keilman, Founder

Collaboration & Cohesive Team Values

In our creative workspace, each person’s voice, and cross functional expertise matters. Through team building and shared fundamental behaviors, we keep an open dialogue.

OUR MISSION

We strive to be the leader in noninvasive therapeutic ultrasound systems, bringing life‐saving technology to the world.

OUR VISION

Sonic Concepts is the global leader in developing noninvasive therapeutic ultrasound solutions, and our innovations improve and save lives every day.

OUR LEADERSHIP TEAM

Committed, cross-functional expertise.

Working together, we focus our passion, curiosity, and skills to move your projects to market in a strategic and aligned way that saves you time, money, and unnecessary trial and error.

PRESIDENT

Kyle Morrison

As a global leader in therapeutic ultrasound technology, Kyle passionately drives the field of transmission ultrasound into the clinic. With more than 20 years in the field of therapeutic ultrasound, he guides customers in development strategies, technical innovation, and business perspective to fulfill their clinical solution. Sonic Concepts continues to grow with the field through strategic partnerships and Kyle’s commitment to fostering a company culture that customers can rely upon. With a Master of Medical Engineering degree from the University of Washington, Kyle is the author of several patents and publications. What fills Kyle’s cup beyond his love of work includes boating, playing piano, cooking, coaching youth baseball, skiing, and time spent with his family.

CORPORATE VICE PRESIDENT

Theresa Jacoby

Theresa serves as the president’s primary liaison on critical projects and assists in driving strategic corporate initiatives, all while acting as Chief of Staff, managing contracts, and overseeing our quality management system. Theresa is a Baylor University alumna with a background in finance and operational management. When not focused on work, she enjoys recharging in time outdoors, visiting National Parks, hiking, and off-grid camping. She finds pleasure in playtime with her black lab and is an accomplished fiber artist and needleworker.

DIRECTOR OF ENGINEERING

Brian Bruckner

Brian brings more than 25 years of experience in medical device and aerospace engineering to Sonic Concepts, where he leads the entire engineering team. Before joining us, his work and leadership contributed to the launch of 10+ medical devices and systems at Bayer Healthcare, Boston Scientific, and Magnolia Medical. Brian holds a Bachelor in Mechanical Engineering degree from Marquette University and an MBA from the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota. Outside of work, Brian enjoys bicycling outdoors and coaching youth soccer.

OPERATIONS MANAGER

René Berglund

René joined Sonic Concepts in 2021 and manages our manufacturing operation. Her tenacity and leadership successfully drive Sonic concepts’ operation, which requires producing the highest level of quality products across a frequently changing variety of demands. René brings more than 20 years’ experience in retail management, administration, and marketing to the company and holds a BA in Psychology from the University of Washington. Photography and live music fill her free time with fun.

TECHNOLOGY MANAGER

Francisco Chavez

Francisco engineers and leads a team of engineers with a passion for solving complex problems. He designs and develops innovative ultrasound systems, including projects with advanced material science and acoustic performance. He assists our industry and research customers with developing ultrasound solutions for almost any application—from medical devices to environmental and life science. Francisco holds a Bachelor of Science from the University of Washington. When not leading his team, he enjoys skiing, sailing, cycling, and taking advantage of everything the Pacific Northwest has to offer.

CONTROLLER

Sonia

Sonia brings more than 15 years of accounting and finance experience in both public and private sectors to Sonic Concepts. She oversees our accounting, budgeting, and reporting activities, and serves as a financial strategy advisor to our president and VP. Sonia holds a Bachelor of Finance degree from Hawaii Pacific University. Outside of work, Sonia is an established artist who enjoys creating paintings as her primary medium, and treasures time spent with her beloved cats.

EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT

Rebecca Shields

Becky serves as the president’s executive assistant and leads internal sales. After performing a variety of positions in office management throughout her career, her company awareness and customer relations acumen make Becky an integral part of Sonic Concepts’ leadership team. She holds a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and psychology from the University of Washington. A prolific reader, Becky also practices yoga, loves supporting the dramatic arts, and enjoys spending time with her family at home, vacationing, and out on the water boating.

Company Timeline

Sonic Milestones

1986: SCI Established

Company founded to provide expert transducer and system development consulting.

George Keilman, inventor, founder, and patent holder, led Sonic Concepts to engineer hundreds of ultrasonic designs – from lab prototypes to helping customers determine requirements, what power to use, and how to incorporate imaging.

1990: Software Launch

Introduced PiezoCAD®—piezoelectric transducer modeling software; recognized globally, an excellent tool for rapid iterative transducer design optimization.

Early 90s: National Recognition

SCI was a recipient or collaborator on numerous STTR grants. Resulting publications and patents led to national recognition of SCI as a therapeutic ultrasound expert.

SCI launched RFWattmeter™—electrical power monitoring measures and passes signals from 100 kHz to 10 MHz, up to 2,000 watts full scale, with minimal loss.

Late 90s: Global Recognition

Sonic Concepts became a recognized brand for medical professionals and researchers for its high quality therapeutic and HIFU transducers. From small ultrasound catheters to large, focused ultrasound devices, medical professionals and preclinical researchers use SCI products.

1999: EKOS Architects

VASCULAR THROMBOSIS TREATMENT: Original architects of high-intensity ultrasound transducer catheter and drive system for treatment of vascular thrombosis, acquired by Boston Scientific.

2003: Noninvasive FUS Architect, Women's Health

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UTERINE FIBROID THERAPY: SCI awarded Small Business Innovation Research grant from National Institute for Health to develop HIFU for uterine fibroids therapy, acquired by Mirabilis Medica.

2004: Underwater Expansion

Developed acoustic telemetry non-therapeutic ultrasonic autonomous receivers and micro-transmitters to track marine life. Received multi-year contract to complete Juvenile Salmon Acoustic Telemetry System (JSATS) architecture. More than 200K fish have been studied in the Columbia River with JSATS tags since 2005.

2005: CardioMetrix Architects

CONGESTIVE HEART FAILURE MANAGEMENT: Original architects in 2005 of ultrasound device to assist physicians in managing patients suffering from congestive heart failure, acquired in 2012 by St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

2006: Biotech Evolution

We expanded our HIFU: High Intensity Focused Ultrasound transducer OEM into the biotech industry for in vitro, non-human biotech products.

2011: Facility Expansion

Developed 5,000 sq. ft. full-scale machine shop; plus electrical lab and acoustic test tank to meet growing ultrasound market demands.

2015: New Leadership

Kyle Morrison was promoted to President when George Keilman retired.

Sonic Concepts launched the Transducer Power Output (‘TPO™’) system with FUS transducers.

2017: Quality Assurance

Sonic Concepts received ISO-9001 certification.

2017-2018: New Product Launches

Sonic Concepts offered the HIFUPlex™ Systems, an affordable and easy-to-use turnkey solution to the FUS research community.

SCI launched NeuroFUS® to the global and US research community with unparalleled depth of field for transcranial ultrasound neurostimulation.

2021: Growth/Expansion

New 11,000 sq. ft. state-of-the-art facilities and laboratories accommodated our rapid growth and worldwide demand for premium transducers and turn-key FUS systems.

2022: Patents Acquired

Arizona State University issued SCI patents for using ultrasound for human neuromodulation to complement our focused ultrasound technology portfolio.

2024: OEM Acceleration

Sonic Concepts provides OEM support for 10+ clinical device companies – developing and manufacturing FUS transducers and systems to create 3X company growth since 2015.

READY TO PARTNER?

We’d love to schedule a working session to review your requirements and assess your availability for collaborating with Sonic Concepts as your OEM partner.

GET IN TOUCH WITH US

Testimonials

Therapeutic Ultrasound Innovation for Your Clinical Indication

“Performing spinal neurosurgery every day, we strive to identify and implement new technology to improve our treatments for patients. It’s refreshing knowing that companies, such as Sonic Concepts, exist to complement our vision. Their ability to innovate in combination with great partnership has made the impossible possible.”

Dr. Nicholas Theodore, Neurosurgeon
JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE

“Our mission at the Focused Ultrasound Foundation is to provide patients with noninvasive, life-changing treatment options in the shortest time possible. Sonic Concepts complements our mission in providing technology to early-stage preclinical researchers and providing OEM to clinical device companies around the globe. A worldwide recognized leader, Sonic Concepts’ contribution accelerates clinical adoption of therapeutic ultrasound, and we endorse them as a true innovator and partner in our mission to saving lives.”

Neal F. Kassell, MD, CEO & Chairman
FUS FOUNDATION

“We found Sonic Concepts to be the perfect partner in developing and manufacturing our technology designed to treat aggressive brain tumors using sonodynamic therapy delivered non-invasively. Not only are they experts in designing transducers and their drive electronics, but they are also genuinely engaged with our mission to reach first-in-man in a short timeline. Sonic Concepts is undoubtedly our primary choice as an OEM ultrasound supplier.”

Jeremy Ling, CTO
ALPHEUS MEDICAL

“Throughout our fruitful collaboration, we’ve come to expect creative and expert input into the design, modeling and implementation of innovative and demanding ultrasound transducers for a broad range of applications, which enables us to push the boundaries of customization with confidence.”

Constantin Coussios, Director
OXFORD CENTRE FOR DRUG DELIVERY DEVICES

Successful OEM Collaborations

How to get started with Sonic Concepts

We’re always excited to meet other dedicated pioneers in the focused ultrasound universe with shared intent to bring FUS solutions to market quickly, safely, and profitably.

CONTACT US
sales@sonicconcepts.com

Our FUS coaches can advise and help guide development of your custom ultrasound device tailored for your clinical needs.

CAREERS
careers@sonicconcepts.com

Want to be on our team? Please review our open positions and/or feel free to reach out and send us your information.