#36 - Turning healthcare preventive with full-body MRI scans - Andrew Lacy - Prenuvo

Impulse - Meeting Healthcare Pioneers

24-10-2024 • 47 minutes

Making healthcare preventive and better able to catch serious conditions earlier is a recurring topic for governments, health systems, and ultimately patients. As healthcare resources become scarce while chronic conditions and their burden on society grow larger, a preventive and more proactive approach to healthcare is undoubtedly part of the solution. There are many ways to go about it, with one emerging trend over the past few years focusing on holistic check-ups, providing a large set of scans, biological assays, and complimentary exams all at once on the same day, helping to give a broad snapshot of one’s health status. One approach that has triggered debate within the medical community focuses on full-body MRI scans delivered to individuals who can afford it, as the ultimate disease prevention tool. A detailed view of the inside of one’s body, based on one of the most widely used medical imaging methods. Some criticize the lack of evidence around the true benefits these scans bring to patients and health systems, pointing to the high price charged for them. Others testify to the diagnostic help these scans offer, lifting the veil on previously unexplained patient cases, and highlighting the possibility of taking action long before certain symptoms are expressed. One way or another, these reactions reflect an approach to medical screening that challenges traditional practices and raises questions. In this episode with the Founder and CEO of Prenuvo, Andrew Lacy addresses the main questions raised by this practice, offering new perspectives on how to apprehend these scans as a medical analysis tool, how they can complement existing care practices, and the complexity linked to the evaluation of the impact that these scans can have on health systems. An eye-opening conversation on what might constitute a part of future preventive healthcare! Timeline: 00:02:47 - Andrew’s background as a serial tech entrepreneur and his move into healthcare 00:04:15 - The idea behind Prenuvo and full-body scans as an early medical screening method 00:06:49 - What the Prenuvo experience looks like compared to a typical medical check-up 00:10:11 - The Prenuvo scanner and what it can see inside the body 00:14:41 - Can Prenuvo scans diagnose certain conditions? 00:18:44 - For whom are these scans for? 00:21:35 - Building the case for full-body MRI scans benefits toward health systems 00:25:39 - Making full-body MRI scans more affordable 00:27:30 - How Prenuvo leverages AI throughout its operations 00:30:21 - Empowering patients to drive long-term behavioral change 00:34:43 - Prenuvo’s plans for geographic expansion and growth What we also talked about with Andrew: Dr. Raj Attariwala This episode was made possible with the support of HLTH Europe! As mentioned by Andrew during the episode, we recommend taking a look at the Research section of Prenuvo’s website, to be informed about the latest in multi-parametric MRI studies and its applications across multiple disease areas. You can also find out more on PubMed for further studies on these topics. To dive further into the technology behind Prenuvo’s scans, head out to The Scan section of their website. You can follow Prenuvo’s activities on LinkedIn, Instagram, and X, and get in touch with Andrew via LinkedIn. If you want to give me feedback on the episode or suggest potential guests, contact me over LinkedIn or via email! And if you liked the episode, please share it, subscribe to the podcast, and leave a 5-star review on streaming platforms! 🙏 There’s now a bi-monthly newsletter around the podcast where you will be informed of the latest episodes and kept posted on the latest medical tech progress, subscribe here! Lastly, don’t forget to follow our activities on LinkedIn and our website!