A behind-the-scenes look at Midjourney’s medical scanner leaves many questions unanswered

The AI startup, best known for generating images, released a behind-the-scenes video of its dunk-tank ultrasound scanner, which it plans to deploy in spas and hopes will transform medicine with cheap, detailed, radiation-free imaging. The nearly 20-minute tour comes from tech YouTuber Marcin Plaza, who also happens to be an engineer at the company.

Plaza frankly describes the scanner as scores of ultrasound probes “hacked apart and slapped on a glorified hot tub with an elevator in it,” connected to off-the-shelf computers and Raspberry Pis. The video shows more of the hardware and the team building it, but largely glosses over the physics and imaging questions experts raised when Midjourney first announced the project.

Those experts told The Verge that Midjourney had shown little evidence it could overcome the well-known limits of ultrasound, a technology that has been around for decades, or generate the kind of detailed images it has suggested at the scale and speed it is promising. The company has emphasized that the scanner will launch as a wellness product focused on body composition, rather than as a diagnostic medical device, which would require FDA clearance and clinical trials. Midjourney doubled down on that approach in the video: head of medical Tom Calloway said the focus on body composition would let the company “speedrun” and open right away once testing is complete. But the video still leans heavily on medical language, asking what physicians could do with access to frequent scans taken over time.

Calloway did not seem especially concerned about clearing up any confusion in the video. “I don’t think there’s anything to really clarify,” he said, promising frequent blogs with progress updates. CEO David Holz, meanwhile, said Midjourney’s lack of investors gives the company freedom to pursue the scanner. “No one can tell me not to do it,” he said.