Midjourney — the company known for AI image generation — announced on June 18, 2026 its first hardware project: the Midjourney Medical Scanner, a full-body ultrasound scanner. CEO David Holz described it as a device that could be "in many ways superior to even MRI machines," though the technology remains at a very early stage.
Key takeaways
- The scanner uses 40 Butterfly Ultrasound-on-Chip modules per system — the technology partner is Butterfly Network
- A scan takes approximately 60 seconds, with the body lowered through a ring of thousands of transducers in water
- The device operates without ionizing radiation or strong magnetic fields
- Midjourney plans to install 10 scanners in a spa at Union Square in San Francisco — opening before the end of 2027
- Approximately 12 people have been scanned so far
How the Midjourney Scanner works
The device relies on ultrasound computed tomography. The user steps onto a platform that lowers them on rails into water — a tank surrounded by a ring of thousands of transducers generating ultrasonic waves. The waves pass through the body from every angle simultaneously. The device records the wave patterns after passing through tissue and uses them to reconstruct three-dimensional images of the body's interior.
Holz compared the sensors to dolphin echolocation. The key technical parameter is computational power: the system requires two petaflops of processing — an order of magnitude comparable to the requirements of large AI data centers. The scan itself takes about 60 seconds — significantly less than a typical MRI session lasting 20 to 90 minutes.
It starts by stepping into a shallow pool of golden light. You then begin to descend into the water. Your body passes through a ring of underwater sensors, each acting like a dolphin, using its echolocation. The sensors send ultrasonic sound waves through your body from every angle.
David Holz, CEO of Midjourney — describing the scanning process
Butterfly Network and the technical architecture
The technology partner for the scanner is Butterfly Network — a company specializing in portable ultrasound probes based on semiconductor chips rather than traditional piezoelectric crystals. Their Ultrasound-on-Chip technology integrates thousands of small transducers onto a single silicon integrated circuit, significantly reducing production costs and component size.
Midjourney uses 40 such modules per system, arranged in a ring surrounding the water tank. Water acts as the acoustic medium — filling gaps between skin and sensors to ensure optimal wave transmission. This type of configuration, known as USCT (Ultrasound Computed Tomography), has previously been studied in the context of breast diagnostics, but applying it to full-body scanning is a novel approach.
Questions about regulation and data privacy
Midjourney Medical makes clear that the current offering does not cover medical diagnostics requiring FDA clearance. The company has not disclosed details of its scan data privacy policy, noting only that "data policy details will be shared before launch." Holz mentioned the possibility of sharing the scan library with doctors or AI health tools — raising questions about biometric data security.
Why this matters
Midjourney Medical is a rare example of a generative AI company moving beyond software into medical hardware. If the scan genuinely achieves MRI-comparable quality — without radiation, without powerful magnetic fields, and at the cost of a 60-second procedure — the potential market is enormous. MRI in the US costs anywhere from several hundred to several thousand dollars per examination and requires specialized infrastructure. The path from a dozen scanned subjects to a market-ready medical product is long — the same procedure must demonstrate reproducibility, diagnostic sensitivity, and artifact resistance. Holz's announcement is ambitious, but for now it is a research project with aspirations, not a product.
What's next
- Midjourney plans to install 10 scanners at the Union Square spa in San Francisco — opening declared before the end of 2027
- The company announced a full data privacy policy will be published before the service launches
- Midjourney Medical is hiring for engineering and clinical positions — job listings indicate plans to expand both hardware and imaging software capabilities
Sources
- The Verge — Midjourney goes from generating cat images to full-body ultrasound scans
- Midjourney Medical — How the scanner works
