Prevention being better than the cure is hardly a new idea. But the combination of data and AI could make these health checks more widely available.
How much of a difference could it make?
Some experts have been sceptical about the value of annual scans such as Neko’s, saying they could push people and healthcare systems into expensive and unnecessary follow-up appointments – a trend dubbed over-diagnosis.
Silicon Valley is littered with cases of visionaries attempting to disrupt healthcare; most of them have not worked out. Technology has a poor record in medicine, tending to push prices up instead of leading to savings.
One also wonders whether the £299 price of a scan might creep up once Neko has a set of captive customers who have banked years of their health data with the company. Spotify – Ek’s more famous venture – has repeatedly increased prices in the last couple of years.
Demand from the public is red hot, however. When Neko opened its first site in Stockholm, slots sold out in two hours and the company currently boasts a waiting list of 22,000.
Nilsonne is convinced that people will also pay up in the NHS-dominated UK, pointing out that privatised medicine is more pervasive in Britain than in Sweden.
Whether people come back is another question.
One scan might be a novelty, returning each year might be less habitual. The paradox of preventative healthcare is that while we hope not to get sick, a clean bill of health can feel like a waste of money.
The evidence suggests that early adopters, at least, do come back. Nilsonne says that 80pc of those who came in for a scan booked a follow-up for the next year.
Am I going back? As the doctor’s finger hovers over the booking screen, I defer, telling myself I’ll decide closer to the time.
But as the scan’s cholesterol readings and strength warnings swirled around in my head, I did at least skip the chocolate bar in the meal deal I bought that day, before dragging myself to the gym.