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

The artificial intelligence startup, known for producing images, has released a Behind the scenes video From the immersion tank ultrasound scanner, which she plans to deploy in spas and hopes will transform medicine with cheap, detailed, radiation-free imaging. The roughly 20-minute tour comes from tech YouTuber Marcin Plaza, who happens to be an engineer at the company.

Plaza candidly describes the scanner as dozens of ultrasound probes “cut up and placed on a glorified hot tub with an elevator,” connected to off-the-shelf computers and Raspberry Pis. The video shows more of the hardware and the team building it, but largely ignores it Questions raised by physics and imaging experts When mid-flight The project was first announced.

These experts said Edge Midjourney has shown little evidence that it can overcome the known limits of ultrasound, a technology that has been around for decades, or generate the kind of detailed images it suggested at the promising scale and speed. The company confirmed that the scanner will be launched as a health product focused on body composition, and not as a diagnostic medical device, which requires FDA approval and clinical trials. Midjourney doubled down on this approach in the video: Chief Medical Officer Tom Calloway said that focusing on body composition will allow the company to “get up and running” and open immediately once testing is complete. But the video still relies heavily on medical language, asking what doctors can do with access to repeated scans performed over time.

Calloway doesn’t seem particularly interested in clearing up any confusion in the video. “I don’t think there’s anything that can really be explained,” he said, promising frequent blogs with progress updates. Meanwhile, CEO David Holz said Midjourney’s lack of investors gives the company the freedom to pursue the scanner. “No one can ask me not to do it,” he added.