A carotid ultrasound measures plaque and narrowing in the two arteries in your neck that supply the brain, which is the most direct stroke-risk measurement a screening program contains. It takes about fifteen minutes, uses no radiation and needs no preparation.
Both sides of the neck, lying down.
Sound waves only.
A partner centre's published non-covered price. (≈$60)
Medione B-3. Precision - Heart Checkup, the cheapest programme that includes the scan outright. (≈$671)
One week is the earliest an imaging slot can be held, and there is no referral step before it.
English report in your hands in about a week. You also get a consultation on preliminary findings on the day of the screening, before you leave.
Programme contents and prices from each partner centre's own foreigner-facing published list, read 2026-08-05: KMI Global and Hanaro Medical Foundation's English site. Standalone per-test prices are a Korean partner centre's 비급여 (non-covered) posting, the itemised list 의료법 제45조 requires a clinic to publish, read the same day. Scheduling and report turnaround are Meridiko's own operating figures, confirmed 2026-08-06, not a centre's published ones (https://global.kmi.or.kr/examination/foreigner_examination; https://en-mobile.hanaromf.com/program/prog01/prog01_01.jsp), measured 2026-08-05. Dollar figures are converted from each centre's won price at ₩1,342 = $1 (open.er-api.com, 2026-09-13). The won figure is the price; the pairing moves with the rate.
Plaque thickness and the degree of narrowing in the carotid arteries, plus blood-flow velocity. Narrowing found here is one of the few screening results with a clear, established action attached to it.
It looks at two arteries in the neck and says nothing directly about the arteries inside the skull or in the heart. A clear carotid scan is not a clear cardiovascular system.
Suits: Adults over 45, anyone with high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes or a smoking history, and anyone with a family history of stroke. It is also the sensible first vascular test if you are choosing only one.
Should not have it: Nobody on safety grounds. It is the least invasive test in any program.
A carotid ultrasound looks at the vessels feeding the brain from outside the skull. A brain MRA looks at the vessels inside it. The carotid scan is cheaper, faster and radiation-free; the MRA sees aneurysms and intracranial narrowing the carotid scan cannot reach.
Included from the Comprehensive tier upward on this site, and separately from Hanaro's Silver program. A partner centre prices it standalone at ≈₩80,000.
