Midjourney, renowned for its AI image generator, has announced a surprising new venture: a medical ultrasonic scanner capable of analyzing the entire human body in just 60 seconds. The announcement left many wondering if it was an April Fools' joke, but it is real. The Midjourney Scanner exists, and the company is even building spas where these machines will be installed for scans.
The company admitted that this project is unrelated to anything seen from Midjourney thus far. In its quest to differentiate and define its future, Midjourney launched Midjourney Medical, with the Scanner as its first hardware product. We have dreamed of something as powerful as an MRI and as casual as a trip to the spa. Today, we are unveiling a path to that, the company wrote in its blog post.
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How the Midjourney ultrasonic scanner works
The process is straightforward: you step onto a platform that submerges you in water at a rate of 2 inches per second. Your body passes through a ring containing half a million squares the size of a grain of sand, each capable of emitting ultrasonic waves and recording the echoes bouncing off your body. The company compares this to dolphins using echolocation. The result is a 3D map of your body with sub-millimeter precision, similar to an MRI but nearly a hundred times faster. The goal is to complete the scan in under 60 seconds, compared to the 60–90 minutes required for a full-body MRI.
Midjourney is developing the machine in partnership with Butterfly Network, a handheld ultrasound device maker. In November 2025, Midjourney signed a licensing agreement with Butterfly Network, securing exclusive rights to its ultrasound-on-chip technology. The project is led by Ahmad Abbas, Midjourney's head of consumer hardware projects, who joined the company in late 2023 after working on the Apple Vision Pro.
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Over the next 12 months, Midjourney will fine-tune its algorithms and scanner, conduct research trials, and work on a second-generation hardware design. The first spa housing Scanners will open in San Francisco next year. The next step is to obtain FDA approval for diagnostic capabilities. By 2028, Midjourney hopes to expand to more cities and launch a third-generation machine with custom silicon for much better image quality. That is when things will get serious, potentially competing with standard MRIs.
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Midjourney's ambition is to have 50,000 Scanners worldwide by 2031. The company believes that with enough early imaging, the world could avoid 30% of all deaths and 50% of all healthcare costs.
For more on AI verification, read our article on Pramaana Labs raising $27 million for formal verification. Also, explore the slowtech revolution reshaping our relationship with technology. For broader context on ultrasound imaging, check the Wikipedia page on medical ultrasound.
Source: https://www.engadget.com/2196998/midjourney-full-body-ultrasonic-scanner
