UK Biobank Completes Imaging of 100,000 Volunteers in Largest Body Scan Study

Scientists have completed the world’s largest whole-body imaging project, scanning 100,000 volunteers and producing over one billion anonymized images of internal organs, blood vessels, bones, and joints. Led by UK Biobank, which monitors the health of 500,000 Britons, the decade-long initiative includes detailed scans of brains, hearts, and other organs alongside extensive genetic, health, and lifestyle data. The high-resolution data has already led to discoveries about how the heart influences psychiatric disorders and how subtle changes in brain structure can predict dementia risk, with the imaging technique now being trialed in the NHS. Researchers also found that even low levels of alcohol consumption are associated with harmful changes in brain size and structure, suggesting no safe level of drinking for brain health. Project leaders hope these findings will transform how diseases are detected and treated early, potentially preventing illness before symptoms appear. The anonymized data is made widely available to scientists worldwide to accelerate research into aging, disease development, and prevention.