Midjourney CEO David Holz said last week about the company’s medical imaging business: users enter a tank and soak for 60 seconds, during which a full-body ultrasound scan is performed using 40 modular pieces. The company claims the imaging quality is “as powerful as MRI.” Five radiology and cardiology professors from the University of Michigan, Washington, Wisconsin, and Jefferson University gave nearly consistent commentary on the technical claims: “extremely exaggerated” and “completely without evidence.”
Midjourney Invests $74 million, Signs a Collaboration Agreement With Butterfly Network
Midjourney has投入 $74 million and signed a collaboration agreement with ultrasound chip maker Butterfly Network in November 2025. The company’s expansion plan is: it will open its first hydrotherapy studio in San Francisco in 2027; deploy 50,000 scanners in 2031, with monthly scan capacity reaching 1 billion times. The third-generation scanner is planned to launch in 2028, and the company claims that by then the image quality and speed will be “vastly different.”
In a post on its official blog, the company cited statistics saying that “with sufficient early imaging screening, 30% of deaths and 50% of medical costs worldwide can be avoided.” Venkatesh Murthy, a preventive cardiology professor at the University of Michigan, said in an interview that the company’s external promotional messaging mainly involves cancer screening and extending lifespan, rather than the body-composition measurement the company claims—“which is almost as accurate as some bathroom scales.”
Five Radiology Professors Cite Three Major Physical Limitations of Ultrasound: Bone, Air-Filled Cavities, and Fat Attenuation
Scott Reeder, a radiology professor at the University of Wisconsin, said current ultrasound technology typically takes more than 30 minutes to complete a localized scan, and reaching an effect “comparable to MRI or CT” would be “a big leap.” He added that the current technology “is not yet mature.” The five professors pointed to three major physical limitations of ultrasound:
Bone and air-filled cavities: Sound waves directly bounce back at the interfaces of bone and air, unable to reach tissue behind them. The chest cavity, abdominal cavity, and cranial cavity are all ultrasound blind spots
Fat attenuation: Fat tissue rapidly attenuates ultrasound signals, so users with larger body types experience a clear drop in imaging quality. The subjects shown in Midjourney’s current displays are all slender
Water-quality handling limitations: It requires perfectly clean water with no air bubbles, plus specialized degassing equipment. The water must be replaced after each guest’s use, and users must also shave their body hair in advance
Professor Murthy of the University of Michigan said the resolution the company claims is “clearly theoretical.” The claim that it is equivalent to MRI “has absolutely no basis,” and the displayed images “clearly lack sufficient resolution.”
Morrison Characterizes It as a “vibe-based rollout”
Radiology professor William Morrison, from Thomas Jefferson University, characterized the entire incident as a “vibe-based rollout”—a release strategy driven by emotion and anticipation rather than technical data. He said the water-bath method has been “almost abandoned” in modern medical imaging, and that existing images are “far behind” today’s CT and MRI. He said, “This may be a scam more than a transformation.”
Radiology professor Matthew Davenport of the University of Michigan said the company’s claims are “one of the most exaggerated statements” he has ever seen, and raised ethical criticism: “Publishing unverified claims that are almost certainly unachievable is ethically problematic.” He and Reeder have co-authored an article this year in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), stating that large-scale imaging screening does not automatically equal good medical decision-making. Reeder also added that if someone were to forgo breast X-ray imaging or a colonoscopy because of this, it would be “concerning.”
Frequently Asked Questions
Why can Midjourney’s ultrasound scanning device not replace MRI?
MRI uses strong magnetic fields and radio waves, and can penetrate bone and air-filled body cavities to generate high-resolution images. Ultrasound relies on sound waves; when it encounters interfaces with bone and air, it directly bounces back, and cannot image the chest cavity, abdominal cavity, or cranial cavity—this is a fundamental physical-law limitation. Professor Reeder said that current ultrasound usually needs more than 30 minutes to complete a localized scan, and reaching MRI-level performance “would be a big leap.”
Why does Midjourney position the device as a “wellness product” rather than a medical device?
Midjourney’s medical lead Tom Calloway has discussed the matter with the FDA and obtained this classification. A “wellness product” is not subject to the strict requirements for medical devices. But this classification also means the device cannot claim cancer screening effectiveness or anticipated lifespan extension, and the results users get from paid scans also do not have diagnostic value. The professors said there is a significant gap between the company’s external promotional content and this classification.
In what technical areas are the five professors’ criticisms mainly focused?
The criticism centers on three points: the resolution of the displayed images is clearly lower than the claimed standards; ultrasound’s physical blind spots in bone and air-filled cavities are established by existing scientific consensus; and while the company uses a “wellness” classification to evade regulation, its external promotion nonetheless involves cancer screening and lifespan extension. Davenport and Reeder have published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) to discuss the pros and cons of large-scale imaging screening.
