I'm in Neko Health's scanning chamber that looks more like a spaceship – wearing only my pants – legs and arms spread eagle as if I'm about to launch into a semi-naked star jump.
I've booked in for the Neko Body Scan, a health check that first launched in Stockholm in 2018 and rapidly collects data about the health of your heart and arteries; cholesterol and blood sugar levels and the moles on your body.
They could be harmless, but they could also be red flags.
Truth be told, I visit my GP so rarely I doubt they'd be able to ID me in a police line up. I have to be really sick to make an appointment and since Covid, it's usually a phone conversation anyway.
But now that ‘longevity’ and ‘preventative health’ have become major buzzwords in the wellness space, a one and done, full-body MOT in a matter of minutes – without multiple blood tests, multiple appointments and weeks anxiously awaiting results – was appealing.
It's clearly a feeling shared by 40,000 other people if the waitlist at Neko Health's newly-opened London clinic is anything to go by.
The Neko Body Scan: What Does It Involve
A nurse slides the doors to the chamber shut and I close my eyes as 70 sensors and several bright flashes take thermal imaging, 2D and 3D pictures of my body (as well as every mark on my skin).
And that's just the tip of the iceberg. My eye pressure is checked to detect glaucoma; I grip hold of what feels like a weighty staple gun to measure my muscle strength and I have blood taken, which is sent to the lab upstairs via a vacuum tube in the ceiling (I wasn't kidding about the spaceship).
Each of my legs and arms are hooked up to blood pressure monitors; a machine looks at the blood vessels in my underarm and I have an ECG scan – all designed to map my respiratory rate, how my heart is pumping and how effectively blood is moving through my veins, blood vessels, arteries and capillaries.
30 minutes later I'm dressed and sitting in an egg-like pod face-to-face with my avatar on a giant screen. I'm told that the scan has mapped 50 million health data points on my body – both inside and out.
AI crunches this data so that one of Neko Health's doctors can interpret the results and deep-dive into any blood abnormalities and my risk factors for developing chronic diseases such as stroke, heart disease and pre-diabetes. The idea is that by giving you as much information as possible about what's going on below the surface, it's possible to stage an early intervention.
The Swede Daniel Ek, best known for co-founding Spotify, is the brains behind the Neko Body Scan. And everything from the clinic's futuristic interiors to the precision engineered AI technology screams Scandinavian efficiency. But it's also clear that he hopes to pioneer the same game-changing approach to healthcare as he did for music streaming.
It seems Neko Health is on its way to doing just that. According to 2023 data from the Stockholm clinic, of the 2,707 people aged 22 to 75 that were scanned, 14% required medical treatment for conditions that many (90%) were unaware they had.
The Neko Body Scan: My Verdict
I'm seriously impressed. I regularly write about wellness tech and super supplements - and incorporate many of them into my daily routine alongside a (mostly) healthy diet and a pretty basic exercise routine.
But Neko Health has gone beyond the ceiling of a simple blood test to deliver the most detailed and thorough health check I've ever experienced.
To put that into perspective, I'm told the Body Scan has collected 742 images of my skin and 13 pages of moles alone. I'm especially struck by this – and the doctor's manual scan with a dermatoscope that even peeked between each of my toes – as there is a history of skin cancer in my family.
Overall, my results are mostly positive. My risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes is low; my skin cancer screening was clear and the water concentration within my skin was good (all the proof I need that drinking plenty of water and the slew of hyaluronic acid serums I apply daily really do work).
That said, my inflammation marker was slightly higher than expected, so we discuss how I can improve my sleep habits and manage stress better.
It seems I currently also have the strength of a kitten given the abysmal score on my strength test – something that has proved to be a more effective incentive to do more cardio and reformer pilates than any wooly New Year's resolution. And should I start flagging I have my results on the Neko app for motivation.
Perhaps the most surprising thing about the hour-long session – including all the scans, blood tests and consultation – is that it costs £299. My annual mole mapping alone costs more than that – which is why I've already paid up for next year's Neko Health Body Scan.
Neko Health, Marylebone, 9 St Vincent St, London. To book a scan, click here.
For more from Fiona Embleton, GLAMOUR's Associate Beauty Director, follow her on @fiembleton.
