The UK Biobank imaging enhancement of 100,000 participants: rationale, data collection, management and future directions.

Littlejohns, Thomas J; Holliday, Jo; Gibson, Lorna M; Garratt, Steve; Oesingmann, Niels; Alfaro-Almagro, Fidel; Bell, Jimmy D; Boultwood, Chris et al. · Nat Commun · 2020

review · Level V

Where this comes from

Abstract

UK Biobank is a population-based cohort of half a million participants aged 40-69 years recruited between 2006 and 2010. In 2014, UK Biobank started the world's largest multi-modal imaging study, with the aim of re-inviting 100,000 participants to undergo brain, cardiac and abdominal magnetic resonance imaging, dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry and carotid ultrasound. The combination of large-scale multi-modal imaging with extensive phenotypic and genetic data offers an unprecedented resource for scientists to conduct health-related research. This article provides an in-depth overview of the imaging enhancement, including the data collected, how it is managed and processed, and future directions.

Medical subject headings