Midjourney, the company that popularized AI-generated cat images and surreal landscapes, has taken a dramatic leap into the medical hardware space. CEO David Holz unveiled the company's first physical product — The Midjourney Scanner — a full-body ultrasound device that uses a ring of sensors to create detailed 3D images of the inside of the human body. The announcement came during a livestream event where Holz also revealed plans for a Midjourney Spa in San Francisco's Union Square, expected to open before the end of 2027.
Holz described the scanner as a side project that emerged from the company's expertise in image generation and processing. He acknowledged that the product represents a significant pivot from the "cat pictures" that made Midjourney famous. The scanner aims to provide image quality comparable to MRI machines, but without the need for powerful magnets, radiation, or long scan times. Instead, it relies on ultrasound technology — specifically, a partnership with Butterfly Network, a company specializing in chip-based ultrasound systems.
Each Midjourney Scanner unit integrates 40 Butterfly Ultrasound-on-Chip imaging modules. These modules are arranged in a ring through which a person descends into a shallow pool of water. The process begins with the user stepping onto a platform that drops down on rails, submerging them past a ring of thousands of transducers. These transducers emit ultrasonic waves that pass through the body from every angle, and the returning ripples are recorded and analyzed by two petaflops of processing power. The entire scan takes about 60 seconds, according to Holz.
The system creates vertical slices of the body, capturing the composition of muscle, fat, bone, and organs. Midjourney Medical, the division behind the scanner, calls these "body composition maps." Holz said the goal is to eventually allow people to track how their body changes in response to diet and exercise, potentially doing a scan daily or at least yearly. He noted that about a dozen people have already been scanned during development.
Midjourney's AI image generation technology plays a role in interpreting the ultrasound data. The company uses its deep learning models to segment and analyze the scans, producing overlays that highlight different tissues and structures. One image released by Midjourney Medical shows a black-and-white ultrasound scan with color-coded segmentation, separating muscle from fat and bone. However, Holz was vague about the exact relationship between the AI image generator and the medical scanner, beyond the fact that the same compute infrastructure can be repurposed for medical imaging.
The spa concept is central to Midjourney's vision for the scanner. The Midjourney Spa in Union Square will include a gym, saunas, cold plunges, and hot tub-equipped scanning rooms. Visitors will enter the water to be scanned, and after their scan they can use the spa facilities. Holz said the spa will initially house 10 scanners. He offered to scan the hands of attendees at the launch event as a demonstration.
Holz acknowledged that medical applications of the scanner would require FDA clearances. For now, Midjourney Medical is focusing on body composition maps, which it claims do not require the same level of regulatory approval as diagnostic imaging. The company says users will be able to share their scan data with doctors, AI health tools, or others, and that data privacy policies will be released closer to launch. Holz expressed hope that eventually the FDA might create a class of devices for "preventative or exploratory" scanning, allowing people to collect as much data as possible about their bodies.
Butterfly Network, the partner providing the ultrasound modules, is known for its portable, handheld Butterfly iQ ultrasound probes. The integration of 40 modules into a single system is a significant scale-up. The ring configuration allows for simultaneous imaging from multiple angles, which is key to constructing a full 3D volume. The water bath helps couple the ultrasound waves to the body, improving image quality.
Midjourney's move into hardware marks a major expansion for the company, which has primarily been a software and AI model provider. Founded in 2021, Midjourney quickly became one of the leading platforms for AI-generated art, alongside DALL-E and Stable Diffusion. Its subscription service and Discord-based community grew rapidly, generating significant revenue and compute resources. Holz has said the company has access to substantial computing power, which can be leveraged for other applications like medical imaging.
The scanner's design draws inspiration from nature — specifically, echolocation in dolphins. The press release describes the sensors as acting "like a dolphin, using its echolocation." The pool of water and the gentle descent are meant to create a calming experience, in line with the spa atmosphere. The visual aesthetic of the scanner room, with a shallow pool of golden light, is reminiscent of Midjourney's ethereal AI-generated imagery.
Industry analysts have noted that the scanner could have applications beyond fitness tracking. High-quality full-body ultrasound could potentially detect tumors, cysts, or other abnormalities earlier and more frequently than current methods, if FDA approval is obtained. The lack of ionizing radiation makes it safer for repeated use compared to CT scans. However, the technology faces challenges: ultrasound cannot easily penetrate bone or air-filled cavities like the lungs, and the resolution of ultrasound is generally lower than MRI. Midjourney's AI-powered image reconstruction may help mitigate these limitations by filling in gaps and enhancing contrast.
Holz also addressed potential competition. He said Midjourney is not trying to replace traditional medical imaging but to create a new category of personal health monitoring. He compared it to the shift from professional photography to smartphone cameras — not as good, but accessible and frequent enough to provide new insights. The spa model also fits a broader trend of wellness tourism and high-end preventive health services.
The timeline for the scanner's availability is uncertain. The San Francisco spa is set to open before 2028, but wider distribution or at-home versions have not been announced. The price per scan has not been disclosed, but given the spa setting and equipment costs, it will likely be a premium service. Holz hinted that the company might eventually offer a subscription model for regular scanning.
Privacy concerns are inevitable given the sensitive nature of medical data. Midjourney's previous data handling practices have faced scrutiny, especially regarding how user-generated images are used to train AI models. Holz promised a clear data policy, but specifics were not provided. The scanner's data — detailed internal images of people's bodies — is even more sensitive. How Midjourney will store, anonymize, and protect that data will be critical to user trust.
Despite these challenges, the announcement has generated excitement. The idea of a quick, non-invasive, full-body scan that you can get at a spa is appealing to many. The combination of AI interpretation and ultrasound hardware could democratize access to body composition analysis and eventually to basic health screening. Midjourney's entry into this space also signals that AI companies are looking for physical-world applications for their models, beyond digital art.
Following the unveiling, job listings for Midjourney Medical appeared, seeking engineers and medical imaging experts. The company's goal, as stated in the listings, is to "build and launch the world's first full-body ultrasound CT scanner, ultimately bringing safe, fast, and high fidelity preventative scanning to billions via a magical spa experience." Whether that vision becomes reality depends on regulatory hurdles, technical refinement, and public acceptance. But for now, Midjourney has successfully drawn attention away from cat pictures and toward the inner workings of the human body.
Source: The Verge News