Mermaid Beach Radiology
Last updated: 08 Aug 2025
Preface
With the increase in popularity of full-body MRI, it is important for individuals to understand that not all full-body MRI screening scans are the same.
At minimum, full-body MRI providers should be able to to perform clinically meaningful DWIBS and reported by a radiologist with experience in multi-organ oncology MRI reads. Without this, the scan loses its screening value, and increases risk of indeterminate or false positives. At worse, false-reassurance at the cost of a pretty penny.
As discussed here, providers operating a 3T platform are at the greatest risk of poor DWIBS quality, particularly through the neck, chest and upper abdomen, as well as challenges in signal loss on other sequences.
Summary
As the name suggests, Mermaid Beach Radiology is located in Mermaid Beach on the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia and opened its doors in early 2021.
This provider offers advanced 3T full-body MRI using a Philips system as a partner clinic to Whole Body MRI TM. While Mermaid Beach Radiology has some information available on their website, including this dedicated full-body MRI page, the majority of this overview is based off of the information provided on Whole Body MRI website.
Mermaid Beach Radiology’s full-body scan is claimed to be the most comprehensive scan in Australia, including more sequences and data compared to other providers. They highlight their advanced technology, including research-grade quantitative 3T MRI with a world-first full-body DWIBS distortion correction providing never-before-seen sensitivity in areas such as the neck and chest.
This provider has the longest scan time of all the providers (90 - 100 minutes), which Mermaid Beach Radiology justifies in providing higher-resolution, more sequences and opportunistic data compared to any other provider in Australia.
Excellent image quality is complemented with a high-degree of radiologist experience in multi-organ MRI reads, especially with over 600 full-body MRI reads at Mermaid Beach Radiology.
This provider also ranks high on patient experience front, with in-bore audiovisuals, bamboo loungewear, other scan day comforts, and excellent customer service reviews (over 1500 5-star Google reviews) and other scan day comforts.
Conditions Detected
Unique to providers in Australia, Mermaid Beach Radiology via Whole Body MRI(tm)’s website shares at great length the capabilities, limitations and conditions detected.
This provider clearly states that this scan is intended for cancer detection, with the ability to detect other life-limiting conditions such as aneurysms, neurological conditions such as multiple sclerosis, reproductive conditions such as endometriosis and enlarged prostate.
Uniquely, this provider offers additional imaging for even more opportunistic health data including brain quantification with SyMRI and NeuroQuant, liver fat and iron quantification, and the scan cost includes a low-dose CT chest and CT calcium score for better evaluation of lung health and cardiovascular risk.
The full list of conditions detected on the Whole Body MRI scan at Mermaid Beach Radiology can be found here.
Technology
Mermaid Beach Radiology has a research-grade Philips 3T MRI, similar to another Southeast Queensland provider, Brisbane Radiology.
However, unlike other 3T providers, Mermaid Beach Radiology uses advanced techniques and merit-based access to clinical science tools to overcome the challenges posed by full-body application of DWIBS. This means Mermaid Beach Radiology is able to provide never-before-seen sensitivity and precision in areas traditionally considered a challenge such as the neck and cardiothoracic regions.
Mermaid Beach Radiology boast other next-generation technologies including SPECTRAL CT (used for Spectral low-dose CT chest as apart of the Whole Body MRI package), NeuroQuant, SyMRI, and research-grade DEXA for additional supplementary scans.
Radiologist & Reporting
Who’s reporting the scan is nearly as important as the image quality. Unique to other providers, Mermaid Beach Radiology may be the only provider who publicly displays full-body MRI reporting radiologist.
Mermaid Beach Radiology’s whole-body MRI service is led by Dr Zane Sherif, co-founder of Whole Body MRI.
Dr Sherif is a sub-specialist and interventional radiologist with extensive experience in full-body MRI, neuro-spinal imaging, and regenerative medicine. He has personally reported over 500 full-body MRI scans, with a significant proportion undertaken for oncology indications such as cancer staging and tumour response monitoring.
Importantly, this focus on oncology imaging distinguishes the service from general wellness or lifestyle screenings, where radiologist experience in complex disease interpretation is often limited.
The clinic also applies ONCO-RADS findings categories to standardise reporting. This internationally recognised framework provides structured, clinically relevant reports, enabling referring doctors to quickly identify which findings may require further investigation or follow-up. Combined with the sub-specialist expertise, this approach enhances diagnostic accuracy and clinical decision-making.
Cost
This provider is one of only a handful that publish their prices online. At the time of writing, the Whole Body MRI scan at Mermaid Beach Radiology starts at $2495 for their new Advanced Torso offering, or $3750 AUD including low-dose CT chest, coronary calcium score, Bone Mineral Density, and Body Composition.
This provider also offers a comprehensive multi-modality screening package for a in-depth look at some areas that require targeted imaging (e.g. for the earliest detection of cancers), and other scans to evaluate metabolic, endocrine, reproductive and cardiovascular health. This is somewhat unique, particularly in the Queensland area, with only HealthScreen in Victoria offering a similar multi-modality package.
Patient experience
Mermaid Beach Radiology offers individuals undertaking a full-body MRI the following:
a gift of bamboo loungewear for increased comfort during the scan
audio-visual in-bore experience (also called MRI Cinema) through specialised headwear to stream movies and TV shows during the scan.
post-scan refreshments, including coffee and snacks
On-site parking
Additionally, Mermaid Beach Radiology may arguably be the most highly rated radiology provider in Australia, with an impressive 5.0 star average with over 1500 Google reviews. Reviewers comment on state-of-the-art technology, excellent customer service, friendly staff, and well designed facilities.
Compare
In order to facilitate comparison for the average reader, we have created a weighted scoring system of the top five things to look for in a full-body MRI provider. To read more about how this scoring system was developed, please visit the Learn tab.
Highly notable mentions include:
High-quality, clinically meaningful true anatomically contiguous DWIBS at 3T, without distortion or artefact.
Highly experienced reporting radiologist, personally involved in the co-development of full-body MRI imaging protocols.
Uses ONCO-RADS categories (1 - 5 score of likelihood of malignancy) for better communication on which findings require follow up.
Exceptional patient experience, with MRI cinema and over 1500 5-star google reviews.
Clear and transparent information about what full-body MRI can and cannot do publicly available on Whole Body MRI website.
Mermaid Beach Radiology – MRIQ Provider Score
| Criterion | Weight (out of 19) | Score (0–10) | Weighted Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| DWIBS & Imaging Capabilities | 5 | 10 | 5.0 |
| Radiologist Experience & Reporting | 4 | 10 | 4.0 |
| Comprehensive Imaging | 4 | 10 | 4.0 |
| Patient Experience | 3 | 10 | 3.0 |
| Transparency & Clarity | 3 | 10 | 3.0 |
| Total | 19 | - | 19.0 / 19 |
MRIQ Recommendation
If you are located in Queensland and seeking a full-body MRI (or willing to travel interstate), Mermaid Beach Radiology is hard to beat for technology and imaging capabilities, radiologist experience, patient experience.
At the time of writing, this facility is our top pick for full-body MRI scoring a perfect 10/10 in the 5 most important qualities of a full-body MRI provider.