Midjourney, an AI lab best known for image generation, has announced an unexpected healthcare project: an underwater full-body scanner.
Medical experts have expressed caution about what scans might reliably show and how consumers might use them.
“Today we’re announcing something a little weird and a little crazy, but also spectacular and hopeful,” the company said in a blog post Wednesday.
Its name is “Mid Journey Medical.” The project is centered around ultrasound scanners, which the lab says could ultimately make imaging inside the body faster, more routine, and more consumer-friendly.
According to Midjourney’s blog post, the scanner lowers the user via an “elevator” into a bath of water, where a ring-shaped sensor sends ultrasound waves at the body from multiple angles. In the company’s words, the sensor uses echolocation to work “like a dolphin.”
Midjourney said the system’s prototype generated a 3D map of the body in 60 seconds. The company said it will provide users with data to “become more health conscious” and “improve your lifestyle.” The company calls the system “as powerful as an MRI and as casual as a trip to the spa.”
And since users will already be wet, Midjourney said it is building a spa to accompany its San Francisco store. The spa, which will feature a hot tub, sauna and cold plunge, is expected to open by 2027.
Midjourney did not say whether Healthcare Project would refocus on its core image generation business model.
In a conversation with Business Insider, radiologists expressed concern that frequent full-body scans can lead to incidental findings, false positives, anxiety, and unnecessary follow-up care if the results are not interpreted in a clinical context.
For example, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommends preventive scanning services when evidence indicates a high or moderate net benefit. Simply put, finding more in the body does not necessarily help.
Silicon Valley’s reaction
In a post about X, Elon Musk wrote that it was “cool.” Ben Parr, Maltbook’s chief operating officer, said he has tested the technology and seen it in his own hands.
YouTuber and science communicator Hank Green had a more mixed reaction to the technology.
He wrote in a blog post for X that he was “somewhat frustrated” with the way Midjourney promoted its products, and said that while ultrasound may have promise, it is not a replacement for scans such as MRIs, CTs, and colonoscopies.
“If you’re leaving this post with something on your mind, leave it with this…different scans do different things,” Green wrote. “All the scans we have are still there because they all fill gaps that the other scans don’t have. Adding another full-body scan won’t replace the other scans, but we very much hope it will.”
Midjourney notes that the project is progressing at the “maximum rate physically possible,” but that speed could increase.
First is scaling. The company says it wants to produce 50,000 scanners worldwide by 2031. The second is regulatory approval. Midjourney said it is starting with a “detailed body composition map” and plans to submit test results to the FDA to expand its capabilities.
Midjourney did not immediately respond to Business Insider’s questions about billing, storage of medical data and how the technology uses AI.