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

Thomas J. Littlejohns(University of Oxford), Jo Holliday(University of Oxford), Lorna M Gibson(Edinburgh Royal Infirmary), Steve Garratt(UK Biobank), Niels Oesingmann(UK Biobank), Fidel Alfaro‐Almagro(University of Oxford), Jimmy D. Bell(University of Westminster), Chris Boultwood(UK Biobank), Rory Collins(University of Oxford), Megan Conroy(University of Oxford), Nicola Crabtree(Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Foundation Trust), Nicola Doherty(UK Biobank), Alejandro F. Frangi(Simulation Technologies (United States)), Nicholas C. Harvey(MRC Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit), Paul Leeson(University of Oxford), Karla L. Miller(University of Oxford), Stefan Neubauer(University of Oxford), Steffen E. Petersen(William Harvey Research Institute), Jonathan Sellors(University of Oxford), Simon Sheard(UK Biobank), Stephen M. Smith(University of Oxford), Cathie Sudlow(University of Edinburgh), Paul M. Matthews(UK Dementia Research Institute), Naomi E. Allen(University of Oxford)
Nature Communications
May 26, 2020
10.1038/s41467-020-15948-9
Cited by 822Open Access
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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.

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