How to Submit Non-Standard MRI and PET Image Data to NACC

If you are interested in sending non-SCAN compliant MRI or PET images to NACC for the first time, please contact nacchelp@uw.edu to begin the setup process.

To submit non-SCAN compliant MRI and PET images to NACC:

• Reach out to nacchelp@uw.eduand the NACC team will set up an ADRC-specific Amazon S3 bucket for your site to submit image data.

• NACC will send your center detailed instructions and login credentials via email to access the site-specific Amazon S3 bucket that was setup for your site.

• You will need to connect to the remote directory address NACC sends to you via email, upon setting up your site-specific Amazon S3 bucket, otherwise you may get a "could not connect" message.

  • Example remote directory address: naccimageraw/MRI/XX
  • Example remote directory address: naccimageraw/APET/XX
  • Example remote directory address: naccimageraw/TPET/XX

• Once connected to S3, you simply move your files into the directory.

  • Uploaded files must be in zip format and should represent only one scan session (one patient on a specific date).
  • There's no need to organize files in folders/directories or name them in any particular way, the system restructures and renames files for consistency.

• Files will be picked up and processed by NACC automatically, and the uploaded file will be removed when processing is complete.

  • Please note that NACC does not currently process PET images in the same way that MRI images are processed. These images will be processed when we add that capability to the new NACC Data Platform system. In the meantime, sites are still encouraged to submit non-SCAN compliant PET data to NACC.

  Additional specifications:

  • To send MRI and PET files to NACC you'll need to use software that can connect to Amazon's S3 service. There's a good chance your current FTP software already supports an S3 connection, if not there are many free options including Cyberduck, WinSCP, and S3Browser.
  • If you submit a scan that matches a previously uploaded scan (based on PTID and study instance ID), the old information will be overwritten by information extracted from the new file. You can use this mechanism to "update" previously uploaded scans if necessary.

This data upload process does NOT apply to SCAN compliant MRI or PET images. NACC does not currently accept SCAN-compliant MRI or PET images as these images are collected by the SCAN project. Please visit scan.naccdata.org to learn more.

Want to request non-standard MRI and PET data? Submit a data request here.