SmartScan

SmartScan Inc., founded in February 2017, is a Japanese medical technology company focused on preventive healthcare. The company aims to create a world where people do not get sick by making advanced medical screenings more accessible. Co-founded by Tomoaki Hamano, who previously served as a brand manager at P&G and holds an MBA from Harvard Business School, the company leverages his marketing expertise to address challenges in the healthcare industry. In December 2023, Jun Furukawa was appointed as the new CEO, and SmartScan became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Eucalia Group, a firm specializing in hospital management and digital health solutions.

The core of SmartScan's business is the "Smart Brain Dock," a platform that digitizes and streamlines the process for brain examinations. This service enables patients to book appointments online, complete medical questionnaires in advance, and receive results on their smartphones or PCs, significantly reducing clinic visit times to as little as 30 minutes. The service provides head MRI, MRA, and cervical MRA scans to detect early signs of cerebrovascular diseases like aneurysms and strokes. To ensure accuracy, all images are reviewed by two specialists, a radiologist and a neurosurgeon. In case of any abnormalities, the company facilitates introductions to specialized medical institutions.

SmartScan operates on a unique business model centered around a sharing economy for high-cost medical equipment. The company partners with medical facilities to utilize their MRI machines during idle hours, allowing clinics to offer brain check-ups without the heavy lifting of marketing, scheduling, and image analysis. This increases the operational efficiency and profitability for the partner clinics and makes preventive screenings more affordable for the public. Revenue is generated by providing this platform and operational support to a nationwide network of clinics. As of June 2024, the service has been used by over 141,000 people across 232 medical facilities in Japan. The company has also initiated a mobile check-up service using MRI-equipped vehicles in collaboration with Idemitsu Kosan.

Keywords: preventive healthcare, medical technology, brain scans, MRI sharing economy, digital health platform, telehealth, cerebrovascular disease, medical imaging, clinic support services, healthcare SaaS, early disease detection, medical check-up, remote diagnostics, healthcare accessibility, patient monitoring, Japanese MedTech, Eucalia Group, Tomoaki Hamano, Jun Furukawa, Smart Brain Dock