One day in London this May, I undressed and changed into a butter-yellow<\/a> robe. It was almost the same shade of lemon as everything else in the room: the walls, the full-length curtains, the counters, the doors, the floor, the exam table, and the body-scanning technology. I matched the environment that I would spend the next 20 minutes in while various machines collected data about me: High-resolution cameras captured 453 spots (including moles and freckles) on my body; an ECG recorded 10 seconds of my heart rate to analyze its rhythm; and a blood draw measured 49 different biomarkers.<\/p>\n It may sound like an episode of Black Mirror<\/em>, but this was my experience getting a Neko Health Scan<\/a>. Neko is one of many body-scanning companies proliferating in the wellness space. When it first opened a facility in London, it had a 300,000-person wait list. The company is debuting in the U.S. this September, and has been met with a barrage of interest. Prenuvo, Ezra, and Fountain Life offer scans, too, and they have become a new token of trendy luxury wellness optimization, like infrared saunas and spa retreats. Kim Kardashian called Prenuvo<\/a> a \u201clifesaving device.\u201d For The Bachelor<\/em> alum Joe Amabile, that sentiment may very well end up being true\u2014his recent Prenuvo scan found an early-stage brain tumor<\/a> that will be removed during a craniotomy. Yasmin Sewell<\/a>, founder of perfume brand Vyrao<\/a>, posted about Neko on Instagram, likening it to \u201cstepping into the future\u201d and saying the impeccable design \u201cfelt like a Prada store mixed with some Gattaca<\/em> vibes.\u201d<\/p>\n A Neko Health Scan room.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n If you listen to the hype, these tests seem to have nothing but upsides. Tools like Neko and Prenuvo can give you a peek into what\u2019s happening inside your body, like a porthole to the ocean, which may help you fine-tune your health decisions. And unlike CT scans (which Oprah Winfrey popularized after getting a full-body one done for her show in 2000), the new tools are radiation-free and often based on MRI technology. While Prenuvo and many others offer MRI services, Neko offers a scan with a different suite of tests that aim for a snapshot of your overall health. Its scan looks at your heart and circulatory system; does full-body skin mapping; identifies blood biomarkers; and assesses microcirculation and vascular health<\/a> via a laser vibrometer device. Other tools are more commonplace, like a blood pressure cuff. Because of its comprehensive analysis, Neko costs around \u00a3299 in the U.K. (its U.S. prices have yet to be decided), while a more internal scan, like an MRI of the head and torso, can cost thousands of dollars.<\/p>\n \u201cUsually most people in their 20s and 30s don\u2019t have chronic disease, but sometimes we can see the very early stages of something that maybe years later could cause a lot of pain, a high medical cost, or a shortened lifespan,\u201d says Andrew Lacy, founder and CEO of Prenuvo. Proponents of these scans view them like an enhanced yearly physical where you\u2019re seeing many specialists at once, allowing you to find out what needs work and track your progress. \u201cWhen you come back the next year, we can see what\u2019s improving,\u201d says Mert Aral, MD, the head of medical innovation at Neko. And sometimes, these scans could catch something life-threatening. Take the case of Sarah Blackburn, a mom in Texas who decided to get a Prenuvo scan when she turned 30, on top of her yearly physicals. It felt routine to her; she watched Love Is Blind<\/em> during her MRI. When she opened her results, she was met with an \u201curgent finding\u201d\u2014aneurysms in her spleen, which have a high mortality rate if they rupture, and are impossible to catch without imaging. Later, ER doctors said that a minor car accident might have killed her, and recommended she have her spleen removed. \u201cI did not foresee my Prenuvo scan going like that,\u201d says Blackburn, who is a year and a half past surgery. \u201cNow that I\u2019m on the other side, what a blessing to have had that information before it was too late.\u201d<\/p>\n Imagery from a Prenuvo scan.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n While for Blackburn, the procedure might have been lifesaving, the potential of additional surgeries like hers is one thing that makes doctors hesitant to broadly recommend scans. \u201cThey can detect incidental findings that may never cause harm, but could lead to unnecessary testing, biopsies, and procedures,\u201d says Eleonora Teplinsky, MD<\/a>, a breast and gynecological oncologist in New Jersey. She worries about the potential financial burden and anxiety that come with a health scare, pointing to South Korea, where scans are common. According to a study in The New England Journal of Medicine<\/em><\/a>, the country saw a 15-fold increase in thyroid cancer diagnoses over the course of two decades\u2014but virtually no impact on mortality. The cancers that were found are called papillary thyroid tumors, which are common but almost never become evident or lead to any clinical danger. But if you know about an abnormality, you may still feel compelled to act on it.<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/hips.hearstapps.com\/hmg-prod\/images\/3477d628-2f21-48c3-833e-7b83847c3104.jpg?crop=1xw:0.821xh;0xw,0xh&resize=980:*\" "\\"A")
<\/p>\n![\"Sagittal](\"https:\/\/hips.hearstapps.com\/hmg-prod\/images\/e3c103d7-6e21-4a7d-803f-74947bb6a002.jpg?resize=980:*\" "\\"Sagittal")
<\/p>\n