In one of the more novel business concepts we’ve seen in a while, generative AI algorithm developer Midjourney last week announced a new wellness project that combines whole-body imaging with a spa atmosphere. The company hopes to have the first imaging spa – outfitted with what it calls an “ultrasonic CT scanner” – up and running in 2027.
If you’re not familiar with Midjourney, you’re not alone. The San Francisco company launched in 2022 with one of the first generative AI algorithms able to create images from text prompts.
- Midjourney’s business model is rooted in industries like graphic design and advertising, where its algorithm is employed to create artistic prototypes of concepts that can then be forwarded to human artists for finalization.
Fast forward to last week’s announcement. Acknowledging that the idea was “a little weird and a little crazy,” the company said its Midjourney Medical business would combine the healthcare and spa industries in a concept that could radically expand the approach to whole-body screening and longevity imaging.
- It starts with a technology that’s not necessarily new to medical imaging – ultrasound tomography in a water bath (water is an excellent conductor of sound waves). But Midjourney Medical turns the water bath into a gigantic, warm pool into which customers will be lowered on a gently descending elevator.
On the way down, spa-goers will pass through an array of half a million tiny ultrasound transducers that produce “terabytes of data each second” that are then sent to powerful computers for processing with AI.
- Midjourney claims AI will be able to recognize changes in density or stiffness and will create a 3D map of the body “that looks a lot like today’s MRIs but at nearly a hundred times the speed.”
But wait, there’s more. Stating that it wants to create an experience that isn’t just about health “but is just a nice place to go,” Midjourney said the scanners will be built around spas with hot tubs, saunas, cold plunges, and “cozy rooms with pools of golden light.”
- The first Midjourney spa is scheduled to open in San Francisco toward the end of 2027, with additional locations planned in 2028.
The Takeaway
The radiology world is littered with the remains of startup companies that thought they could reinvent the discipline with new technologies radically different from modalities that are already available. Is Midjourney Medical one of them? Or will the firm’s ambitious concept of an imaging spa revolutionize whole-body screening? Only time will tell.
