Prenuvo
Summary
Prenuvo is arguably the most well-known large scale, corporate full-body MRI provider internationally, with many clinics through out the USA. To date this company has raised over 190 million dollars from investors to carry out full-body MRI screening, and more recently "Prenuvo Enhanced” (available in only in Silicon Valley) which includes Prenuvo’s own body-composition analysis, additional neurological assessments, and a blood test panel to complement the MRI scan.
This provider use 1.5T Philips platform a 50 minute full-body scan. Because these clinics are primarily Prenuvo owned, rather than partner clinics with comprehensive radiology providers, their imaging services are limited to MRI. In other words, Prenuvo scans do not include lung cover or evaluation of cardiovascular disease risk like other providers Ezra or Mermaid Beach Radiology.
Prenuvo clearly have a well-oiled machine facilitated by significant investment. Their patient experience includes onboarding exploratory calls, online portals, lay-person patient reports, and post-scan follow-up call.
However, Prenuvo comes in at the most expensive of the full-body MRI providers. However, despite the slower 1.5T platform, Prenuvo do acquire full-body DWIBS for greater sensitivity and tissue characterisation compared to other US-based 3T providers.
Prenuvo Australia
For Australians, Prenuvo is now in Melboure with Prenuvo still teasing a Sydney-based clinic.
When choosing between Prenuvo’s 1.5T platform, and 3T full-body with DWIBS correction offered by Mermaid Beach Radiology, MRIQ recommends the latter for better value and greater health insights.
Furthermore, Mermaid Beach Radiology regularly validates their screening scan with full-body MRI for oncology for extra layer of confidence.
Conditions Detected
Prenuvo state that they can detect over 500 conditions in their full-body scan. Unlike some Australian providers, Prenuvo goes through a significant effort to list capabilities.
However, some claimed capabilities are questionable (e.g. breast cancer - what stage? as all full-body MRI can detect late state breast lesions) and appear to inflate the number of conditions detected. For example, the Prenuvo conditions page lists normal anatomical variations and even “indeterminant lesions as detected condition.
You can see a list of conditions detected by Prenuvo’s scan here.
In Australia, Prenuvo’s sensitivity listed is 10 mm or greater - which is industry standard terminology.
Imaging Capabilities & Technology
Scanner strength
Prenuvo uses Philips 1.5T MRI scanners to perform full-body screening. Important for the health consumer, Prenuvo include full-body DWIBS
Generally, 3T MRI provides superior soft-tissue contrast. For whole-body screening, however, optimizing cancer-sensitive diffusion sequences (DWIBS) is more challenging at 3T. Prenuvo notes that for full-body screening, 1.5T is preferable because it enables clinically meaningful DWIBS acquisition. MRIQ agrees - DWIBS performed on 3T is at significant risk of geometric distortion and artefact.
Image Acquisition
Prenuvo meets the current proposed minimum standards for full-body MRI acquisition, known as ONCO-RADS. This is significant not only for health consumers—by supporting sensitivity and accuracy—but also because it positions the provider to contribute meaningfully to future research on the utility of this scan as a screening tool.
It is important to note that Prenuvo operates solely in the screening space. In other words, its scans are not used for clinical diagnosis, which raises questions about clinical validation—both in terms of image acquisition and the reporting process.
Additional Imaging
Prenuvo only offers full-body MRI imaging in the majority of its clinics.
Reporting & Radiologist Experience
There is no question that Prenuvo have performed more full-body MRI screening scans than any other provider globally. MRIQ believe radiologists reporting for Prenuvo, at minimum, have multi-organ cancer MRI reporting experience with all scans reported by a single radiologist.
Artificial Intelligence
Based on information available, MRIQ also suspects that Prenuvo utlises AI to assist in report generation, and potentially, spotting abnormal pathology in some body regions. Interestingly, the use of AI may introduce “Automation Bias” which is where AI is incorrect, but because AI is perceived to be “superior” the radiologist assumes it was missed by their human eye.
With regard to the new Australian-based Prenuvo, the customer service team said reports are “created” by radiologist. Which is interesting phraseology, especially when specifically who reports the scans.
ONCO-RADS
Prenuvo gets bonus points for utilising a reporting standard, known as ONCO-RADS. Simply, this is a confidence score, rating the likelihood of malignancy on a 1 - 5 scale, with higher score (or categories) being at increasing risk of cancer.
Cost
The Prenuvo full-body scan is $2499 USD, which equates to approximately $4000 AUD. This cost does not include low-dose CT chest or calcium score.
This makes this scan the most expensive available of the currently reviewed providers for Australians (or North Americans) willing to travel.
Prenuvo has entered the Australian market as of late 2024, early 2025. Currently, Prenuvo is offering scans in Melbourne priced at $3500.00 AUD - slightly cheaper than US-based practices.
Patient Experience
Highlights of the Prenuvo experience include:
Great onboarding process with a discovery call prior to booking.
In the US, no referral required, but is required for other countries such as Canada.
In Australia, Prenuvo website mentions a referral is required. However, like a few other providers such as OneMRI, it is likely providing an internal referral by a Prenuvo health provider.
Audio-visual experience similar to other providers (Mermaid Beach Radiology).
Patient lay-report provided in patient portal
Post-report follow call with trained nurse or other medical professional (not Radiologist or Doctor).
Compare
Prenuvo full-body MRI images have been reviewed by the team with express permission from the scanned individual.
To compare cost, inclusions, scan time, anatomical regions covered for other providers - please visit the comparison section of this site.
Prenuvo Australia - MRIQ Score
| Criterion | Weight (out of 19) | Score (0–10) | Weighted Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| DWIBS & Imaging Capabilities | 5 | 7 | 3.5 |
| Radiologist Experience & Reporting | 4 | 8 | 3.2 |
| Comprehensive Imaging | 4 | 5 | 2.4 |
| Patient Experience | 3 | 8 | 2.4 |
| Transparency & Clarity | 3 | 7 | 2.1 |
| Total | 19 | – | 13.6 / 19 |
Note: The score above is in relation to Prenuvo Australia. Although Prenuvo captures DWIBS, the scan itself is performed on a 1.5T with images acquired in under 60 minutes. Due to the inherent slower scan speed compared to 3T, the image resolution would naturally be lower.
MRIQ Recommendation
If you are geographically restricted to North America, Prenuvo is an excellent option for sensitivity and patient experience and, in our opinion is superior to other providers using 3T MRI (based on imaging capabilities).
If you are willing to travel, MRIQ would recommend Mermaid Beach Radiology (top score) for more opportunistic health data (includes low-dose CT chest, liver quantification), superior sensitivity and precision as a result the use of a 3T platform with DWIBS correction.