Is This the Future of Preventive Healthcare in India? Decoding Fujifilm’s NURA—India’s First AI Health Screening Center

Nura - Masaharu Morita - Founder and Program Director
Nura - Masaharu Morita - Founder and Program Director

The exceptionally high life expectancy of the Japanese has long captivated global attention, setting a benchmark for health and wellness. The World Health Organization reports Japan’s ‘healthy life expectancy’ (HALE)—the number of years a person lives in full health without requiring nursing care—at an impressive 73.4 years, significantly surpassing India’s 58.1 years. This difference stems from a combination of factors, including diet, lifestyle, and a strong emphasis on preventive healthcare.

Emulating Japan’s proactive approach to healthcare, Fujifilm and Dr. Kutty’s Healthcare (Fujifilm DKH LLP) have partnered to launch Nura—India’s first AI-powered health screening centers, dedicated to the early detection and management of cancer, diabetes, and other lifestyle diseases.

Nura’s hallmark is its 120-minute comprehensive health screenings, says Nura’s founder and program director, Masaharu Morita. Nura’s screening providing patients with clear visual insights into their health status by leveraging Fujifilm’s cutting-edge AI imaging technology. 

By leveraging AI, Morita says Nura brings “precision and accuracy of Japanese production lines” into preventive healthcare screenings in India and beyond.

India: Nura’s First Frontier Outside Japan

India became Nura’s first major market in 2021 when they set up their first center in Bengaluru. The choice was deliberate. “India is the world’s most populous country, and the need for preventive healthcare here is immense,” Morita explained.

Nura Center in Bengaluru-India's First AI Health Screening Center
Nura Center in Bengaluru-India's First AI Health Screening Center

In Japan, Morita’s home country, annual health checkups are mandatory for all employees—a legal requirement aimed at preventing severe illnesses such as cancer and lifestyle-related conditions.

“This is why Japanese people live longer. Cancer is caught early, diabetes and heart conditions are controlled, and overall health is prioritized,” says Morita.

However, he quickly realized that Japan’s B2B model for health screening—where companies mandate employee checkups—would not work in India.

“India doesn’t have the same top-down enforcement of health screening from government or employers. In India, people have the freedom to decide. You can’t push them to do it.” This led Nura to adopt a direct-to-consumer (D2C) approach in India, focusing on creating awareness about preventive health and offering affordable screening costs.

Today, Nura operates standalone centers in Gurugram, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and recently opened a new center in Calicut. Morita has ambitious expansion plans to open new centers in Chennai, Pune, Ahmedabad, and other major Indian cities by the next year to make preventive healthcare accessible across the country.

Morita explains that in India, “80-90% of Nura’s customers come from family recommendations.” He praises Indian culture, noting that the close-knit family dynamics, where individuals prioritize the well-being of family members, are a major reason for Nura’s success in the subcontinent.

Regarding the cost of a full-body screening in India, Morita shared that Nura’s services are priced at 18,000 rupees, roughly 200 US dollars.

"In Japan, full-body screening is more expensive. In India, we try to make it as affordable as possible. We want it to be at a level comparable to what an average Indian family would spend for dinner annually—something manageable. We don’t want it to be 50,000 or 1,00,000 rupees; that’s unfair. Our slogan is fairness, availability, and affordability.”

The Nura Experience

Walking into a Nura center, the first thing you notice is its simplicity. There are no long queues or chaos—just a meticulously organized system that ensures every visitor moves through the process effortlessly. In just 120 minutes, visitors leave Nura with a comprehensive health report, rivaling the speed and efficiency of even emergency room diagnostics.

Morita describes ‘the Nura experience’ as a “factory process,” inspired by the precision of Japanese production lines. “It’s nonstop. Only 10 minutes at each station. No waiting, no confusion,” he explains.

Guests are guided by highly trained guest-relations executives who ensure that every step, from registration to screening, is smooth and hassle-free. Morita clarifies that Nura does not want to be seen as a typical clinic, hospital, or diagnostic center, despite being in the diagnostics business.

“People associate hospitals with long queues and emergency cases,” he said. Nura’s centers, designed for preventive care, flip this narrative. “Here, the visitors are not treated as patients, but as guests in a 5-star environment. The screening processes are planned and pleasant."

Nura CT MRI scan AI

Nura also distinguishes itself by utilizing advanced AI-enabled CT imaging for highly accurate and comprehensive health screenings. “Our technology and approach are fundamentally different,” Morita noted.

While many global healthcare providers are already using Fujifilm’s imaging machinery, Nura’s advanced AI-enabled CT technology and screening processes can detect even the smallest anomalies–signs that might escape the human eye.

To highlight this, Morita shares the pitfalls of traditional health checkups and legacy detection processes: “For example, small cancer dots in scans can be missed during routine checks as they are not visible to the naked eye. With Nura’s AI imaging, even the smallest tumors can be detected and treated early.”

Technology Meets Humanity

While technology is the backbone of Nura, it’s the human touch that completes the experience.

“In Nura's centers, AI acts as a powerful triage tool, flagging potential health concerns. But it is not the final decision maker,” Morita emphasizes. These findings are then reviewed by specialists who provide the necessary confirmation. “Ultimately, a doctor takes responsibility and explains the results to the visitors.”

This systematic synergy maintains the precision and speed of AI while incorporating the essential human touch and reassurances of a doctor. When visitors leave Nura after completing a screening, they not only have a report but also a clear understanding of their health status and actionable steps for improvement, says Morita.

Beyond the great offline experience at their centers, Nura has also invested in providing seamless digital interfaces too. “No paper, no analog systems—everything is fully digital,” Morita shared, highlighting how Nura delivers reports digitally and integrates AI in their app for actionable insights.

“You can ask our AI chatbot questions like ‘What shouldn’t I eat?’ or send your reports to your family doctor from the Nura app too,” he added.

Seeing Is Believing: Nura’s Reports Drive Health Engagement and Adherence

Nura’s digital interfaces are designed to go beyond traditional health reports, transforming data into a visually engaging experience. Users can explore detailed images of their organs, body composition, and even future health projections.

“For example, in your reports, we visualize your visceral fat and show predictions—how your body will change if you reduce it. We can show where you are now and where you will be at age 40. It’s like a digital mirror of your health. This makes health data not just informative but engaging,” Morita shared.

He emphasizes that the role of AI imaging is not just for diagnosis but for educating individuals about their health in a more visual and actionable way.

“Basically, seeing is believing. Imagine seeing your own heart in a scan, and learning that it is calcified and at risk of a heart attack. Our visitors say that the visual aspects make it very trustworthy and easy to understand because they are seeing it themselves. We show our customers, 'This is your breast, this is your liver, this is your lung, this is your kidney.’ Everything is visible. An image doesn't lie,” Morita explained.

This visualization is powerful. It makes people take action. The “visual approach” in health screenings is complemented by Nura’s AI algorithms that predict health risks and recommend lifestyle changes from healthcare professionals, aiming to prevent diseases before they manifest.

He explained, “The workflow begins with a body scan, after which AI analyzes the data and highlights potential concerns. These findings are then reviewed by specialist doctors who confirm them before transferring the information to general practitioners (GPs). Finally, the GP explains the results to the customer.”

Upcoming Innovations from Nura

At present Nura focuses on cancer and lifestyle diseases like heart attacks and diabetes—what we call metabolic issues. Next, their focus is on locomotive diseases that mainly affect the elderly.

Morita shares, “Nura is evolving. As people age, bone and muscle problems become more prevalent, leading to pain in the knees, hips, and back. This is known as locomotive syndrome. We plan to address this in the future with advanced analytics, including bone analytics. We are developing tools that can predict future fractures based on muscle strength and size. We will then educate people on rehabilitation and muscle training.”

He also touched upon the future of regenerative medicine at Nura: “We will start regenerative medicine as well in the future.  We will introduce new technologies, so it’ll be a continuous, up-to-date upgrade.”

Preventive Care for the 98% - The Bigger Picture

For Morita, Nura is more than just a business. “Everyone knows prevention is better than cure, especially after COVID. But knowing isn’t enough; we need action,” he says. However, current healthcare practices in most developing countries are finding it difficult to even scale healthcare operations to cater to the sick.

“Every healthcare provider in every country is busy building specialization for the 2% of sick individuals,” he notes. “But how do we provide preventive care for the other 98% who are healthy today, so that they don’t get sick?” Morita asks.

This question is the cornerstone of Nura’s mission which began in India, but now scaling globally. Nura’s recent expansion to Mongolia demonstrates its adaptability and scalability.

Morita shared a personal anecdote: “Initially, Mongolia wasn’t in Nura’s global plans. But their drive towards preventive health convinced us. Today, our Nura center in Mongolia is thriving, with over 400 employees and we received the Peace Medal from the President,” he shared with pride.

Globally, Nura is present in Mongolia and Vietnam and is planning expansion to countries like the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and the Philippines. “We are just getting started,” Morita said with a smile talking about Nura’s future roadmap. 

For Morita, the success of Nura isn’t measured in revenue alone—it’s in the lives saved and the cultural shift toward prioritizing health before illness.

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