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Build the future of medical devices, in the open.

Openwater Developer Documentation for the Open-LIFU focused-ultrasound platform and the Open-Motion optical blood-flow imaging platform. Hardware, firmware, and software โ€” fully open-source.

Open Source, Always AGPL 3.0 ยท CC BY-SA 4.0
2 Core Platforms Open-LIFU & Open-Motion
Live Documentation docs.openwater.health

What is Openwater?

Openwater is an open-source ecosystem for medical device innovation. We build the hardware, firmware, and software for two platforms โ€” and we publish all of it under permissive and reciprocal open-source licenses so researchers, clinicians, and developers can study it, modify it, and build on it.

This documentation is for the people building with Openwater hardware: setting up a console for the first time, writing against the SDKs, contributing firmware, or fabricating their own hardware revisions.

The two platforms

  • Open-LIFU


    Low-Intensity Focused Ultrasound for non-invasive neuromodulation research. Treatment planning, simulation, transducer control, and clinical-style sonication workflows through Python and 3D Slicer.

    Open-LIFU documentation

  • Open-Motion


    Near-infrared optical imaging for non-invasive blood flow and micro-motion measurement. Modular console + sensor module architecture with on-board histogram processing, controlled from Python.

    Open-Motion documentation

Get involved

  • Code on GitHub


    Every repo, every revision, every issue. Browse the platforms, file bugs, or open a pull request.

    github.com/OpenwaterHealth

  • Discord


    Where developers, researchers, and clinicians actually talk to each other. Ask questions, share what you're building, get help.

    Join Discord

  • Contribute


    Read the contribution guide, sign the CLA, pick a "good first issue," and ship a pull request.

    Contributing guide

  • Governance


    A Technical Steering Committee model adapted from CNCF and the Linux Foundation, tuned for open-source medical device development.

    Governance charter

Investigational devices

Research use only

Open-LIFU and Open-Motion are investigational devices. Neither is FDA-cleared. Both are intended solely for laboratory research and development. Clinical or diagnostic use is prohibited. Documentation here describes the systems as built; use at your own risk and consult your local regulatory authority before any human-subjects work.


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