The Future of Preventative Scans: Full-Body MRI, Liquid Biopsy, and AI Diagnostics
The Shift Toward Proactive Medicine
For decades, healthcare has been reactive — intervening once symptoms are visible, often when disease is already advanced. In 2025, the landscape is changing. Advances in imaging, molecular diagnostics, and AI are moving preventative scanning into mainstream conversation. A growing set of companies is making it possible to detect cancers, cardiovascular disease, and even early neurodegeneration before symptoms appear.
Preventative scans are no longer just a luxury perk of longevity clinics — they are shaping up to be an infrastructure layer for 21st-century medicine.
Full-Body MRI
Prenuvo — Offers radiation-free, full-body MRI scans designed to detect cancer, aneurysms, and other early-stage conditions. With celebrity endorsements and a Series B funding round exceeding $70M, Prenuvo is driving consumer awareness of advanced imaging.
ezra — Provides AI-enhanced full-body MRI with price points starting under $1,000, pushing accessibility beyond elite audiences. Ezra has raised over $20M and is piloting employer partnerships.
Liquid Biopsy
Grail (acquired by Illumina, now independent again) — Developer of Galleri, a multi-cancer early detection blood test capable of screening for 50+ cancers from a single draw. While priced at ~$950, Grail has already reached tens of thousands of patients in the U.S.
Freenome — Focused on blood-based early cancer detection using machine learning. The company has raised over $1B, with investors including Roche and GV, and is advancing colorectal cancer screening trials.
AI-Driven Radiology & Diagnostics
Nanox — Developing lower-cost digital X-ray and imaging solutions aimed at democratizing access.
Perspectum — Specializes in AI-enhanced imaging for liver and metabolic diseases.
RadNet — Expanding AI radiology platforms across its nationwide imaging centers, with a focus on cancer detection and workflow efficiency.
Market Dynamics
The global early cancer detection market is projected to surpass $80B by 2030.
The full-body MRI segment is experiencing double-digit growth annually, with the U.S. and Asia-Pacific leading adoption.
Employer adoption is accelerating: tech firms and financial institutions are beginning to subsidize scans as part of executive health benefits.
Challenges
Cost and accessibility — While prices are falling, most scans remain accessible only to affluent consumers or through boutique clinics.
False positives — Overdiagnosis and anxiety around incidental findings are ongoing concerns.
Regulation and insurance — Coverage is inconsistent, with liquid biopsies in particular facing payer skepticism until large-scale trials validate outcomes.
27K Ventures Take
The future of preventative scans will not be determined by who has the sleekest clinic or the most celebrity endorsements — it will be defined by who can prove clinical value while scaling access responsibly.
We are watching for:
Closed-loop ecosystems — Companies that don’t just detect, but seamlessly connect patients into care pathways.
Cost curve breakthroughs — AI and automation driving MRI and liquid biopsy from $1,000+ into mass affordability.
Employer and insurer adoption — The tipping point will be when preventative scans are no longer “nice to have” but embedded in mainstream health benefits.