4 days ago
'I tried the health scan with a 100k waitlist – here's why it's worth the £299 price tag'
I'm standing naked in a floodlit tube. The cylindrical doors surrounding me are alternating between spinning and stopping, and when they do whizz open, I'm greeted by a nurse and – blessedly – a dressing gown. I'm here for a health scan, but I feel like I'm in an episode of Black Mirror.
Created by the co-founder of Spotify, the Neko body scan wants to disrupt the health industry in the same way the streaming platform did for music. The brand's prevention-first ethos piqued my interest when an invitation landed in my inbox - and I'm not the only one. The waitlist to have the £299 scan is 100k people strong. So what exactly are they waiting for?
Listing the myriad biomarkers the scan measures would gobble up my word count, but the data derived from the hour-long scan – 30 minutes of tests, the other 30 interpreting the results – is eye-watering; the floodlit tube alone will capture 2154 photos of my skin as a means of testing for skin cancer.
Like most of Neko's data-curious clients, I'm symptom-free. But despite training regularly, counting my plant points and tracking my sleep and cycle, I know that how well I feel only tells me so much – something confirmed to me in my twenties when I was diagnosed with osteopenia (loss of bone density that can be a precursor to osteoporosis).
And so to a basement in London's Marylebone where – amid interiors that wouldn't look out of place on a spaceship – vials of my blood are taken. My blood vessels are mapped via a non-invasive laser on my wrist, I have an ECG and my grip strength and eye pressure are tested. Results are presented to me by a doctor via a series of digestible diagrams – like a Spotify Wrapped for health; one that's helped 14% of clients seek medical support and 1% receive a potentially life-saving intervention.
My results (which also land in my inbox within minutes of leaving) are reassuring. My risk of diabetes, skin cancer, immune system disorders, cardiovascular disease and more are minimal. My heart age is six years younger than my actual age. That my data is only benchmarked against that of the first 10k people who had the scan makes my score particularly good, given we're a health-conscious cohort.
But the data doesn't tell you everything. I'm surprised to see BMI – a metric some argue is an unreliable indicator of health as it hinges on weight as opposed to body-fat percentage or muscle mass.
A hormone profile isn't taken from my bloods – explainable by the fact that Neko is focusing on 'non-invasive, scalable and cost-effective health assessments that deliver actionable results within an hour, says lead GP Sam Rodgers, with the caveat that it's 'continuously looking to add features to deliver even greater value and insights'.
Then there's the fact that the £299 scan will be unaffordable for most. And yet: 'The better-informed people are about their bodies, the less pressure there is on the healthcare system - particularly when social media is contributing to health anxiety,' health psychologist Dr Sula Windgassen tells me, when I ask for her take on the rise of private scans. This only applies, of course, if you're supported in interpreting the results, hence Neko's 50/50 time-slot approach. Is it the most fun you can have with no clothes on? No, but it might just be the healthiest.
Join the waitlist at
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