It took 10 years and involved 100,000 volunteers, but the world’s largest whole body imaging project is now complete, giving scientists unprecedented insights into the human anatomy.

UK Biobank, which led the project, scanned its 100,000th volunteer this week. Since 2015, it has batch released the de-identified imaging data to scientists around the world to help them develop better diagnostic tests for conditions such as heart disease, dementia and cancer. 

Used alongside existing information on lifestyle, medical history, genetics and blood proteins – collected from the same volunteers – the images, said UK Biobank, “allow researchers to see, in ways that were previously impossible, how all aspects of our lives influence our health”.

So far, more than 1,300 peer-reviewed scientific papers have been published off the back of UK Biobank’s data. The results of these studies have helped improve patient care globally; one such study identified a much quicker way to analyse heart scans. 

“The unprecedented scale of this imaging project … makes it possible for scientists to see patterns of disease that just couldn’t otherwise be seen,” said Prof Sir Rory Collins, UK Biobank’s chief executive. “This massive imaging project is making the invisible visible.”

Image: Jacek Dylag