SCAN Initiative Updates
For more information about the SCAN initiative, please visit scan.naccdata.org
*Please note that the SCAN initiative does not accept non-SCAN compliant MRI and PET images. Existing MRI and PET images collected before January 1, 2021, and prospective images that don't meet SCAN protocol are still accepted by NACC - learn more here.

- About this page:
- The purpose of this page is to provide important updates on the SCAN initiative for the ADRC Program and for Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementia (ADRD) researchers interested in using SCAN data.
- Updates for ADRC's
- SCAN Dashboards are coming soon
- When and how will SCAN summary data be returned to the ADRCs?
- What is the current process for submitting MRI/PET images?
- How are identifiers used for the SCAN data?
- How are MRI and PET imaging submissions from ADRCs currently being tracked?
- How will MRI and PET imaging submissions be tracked in the future?
- How will ADRCs who contribute data to SCAN be acknowledged?
- Updates for ADRD researchers:
- Still have questions?
The SCAN Dashboards are coming soon
About the SCAN Public Dashboard
We anticipate this resource being made available in Summer of 2023.

Information included in the Dashboard:
Each ADRC's current SCAN readiness and participation status
An ADRC's SCAN readiness status refers to the MRI checklist and/or PET checklist steps that have been completed by a site to prepare to participate in the SCAN study.
- Ready to Submit Data: site has completed the checklist and has submitted data to SCAN or is ready to submit data to SCAN
- Not submitting data: site has not completed the MRI and/or PET checklist and is not submitting data to SCAN
- Total number of MRI and PET participants for whom your site has submitted data to SCAN (only includes participants whose IDs are valid, or were validated through the SCAN data Audit in March 2023)
- Total number of standard MRI exams and series submitted to SCAN that are available for analysis
- Total number of PET scans (amyloid or tau) submitted to SCAN that are available for analysis
Information not included in the Dashboard:
- SCAN Analysis data
- NACC anticipates being able to send analysis data (such as SUVRs and volumes) back to ADRCs in Summer of 2023. See details here. SCAN and NACC are working on sending SCAN analysis data back to ADRCs now that the SCAN data audit has been completed by all ADRCs. Once the audited data is processed, integrated, and analyzed, NACC will return this data to each ADRC.
- ADRD researchers around the world will have access to this data via NACC's Quick Access File by September 2023.
- Private ADRC-specific PET and MRI data
- The MRI and PET summary and QC status information will be made available through the ADRC Portals, see more information about the private ADRC-specific SCAN dashboards below.
- Data for participants without existing NACC IDs
- Sites should continue to collect imaging data for all participants. For the time being LONI will only be accepting data submissions for participants who have existing NACC IDs.
- In the future, we will have new systems in place to allow data to be submitted for those participants who do not currently have existing NACC IDs.

About the Private ADRC-Specific SCAN Dashboards:
Once the NACC ADRC Portals are live, each ADRC will have access to private SCAN MRI and PET dashboards for their individual ADRC that will:
- Enable them to track the QC status of their MRI and PET submissions, allowing them to rapidly address errors.
- Serve as an auditable record of all SCAN MRI data submitted to SCAN by a given ADRC, downloadable as a csv file.
Information that will be included in the private ADRC-specific SCAN dashboards includes:
- All PET summary and QC data submitted by each ADRC including:
- NACC IDs
- PTIDs
- PET study date and time
- image UID, scanner model
- PET radiotracer used
- whether the scan passed QC or not
- QC comments (why the scan failed QC, if failed)
- All MRI summary and QC data submitted by each ADRC including:
- NACC IDs
- PTIDs
- MRI study date and time
- scanner model
- study UID
- exam compliance
- study comments
- series date and time
- series number
- series type
- whether the series was released for analysis or not
- whether the series passed protocol or not
- comments on why the series did not pass protocol
- visual QC status and comments
What is the current process for submitting MRI/PET images?
What about non-SCAN compliant MRI/PET images that are submitted to NACC?
How are identifiers used for the SCAN data?
- Subject ID or PTID: this is the ADRC-managed participant ID, or "local ID". Formats vary by ADRC.
- NACCID: this is the NACC-managed participant ID. It is a string with the prefix 'NACC' followed by 6 digits.
- ADCID: this is the NACC-managed center ID. This is a two-digit number.
How are MRI and PET imaging submissions from ADRCs currently being tracked?
- The NACC monthly reports for each ADRC do not include the MRI/PET images submitted to LONI for the SCAN project in the image counts.
- We will not be adding SCAN images to these static monthly reports because we are in the process of modernizing the NACC Data Platform and complete SCAN-compliant image counts will soon be available through the SCAN dashboards.
- NACC is currently in discussion with NIA and the Imaging Steering Committee to determine how legacy MRI and PET images will be tracked and reported at NACC as we transition to our modern Data Platform and ADRC portals.
- Your monthly report should currently reflect the correct number of legacy MRI and PET images that have been submitted to by your site to NACC.
- There were previously some errors in these counts due to a bug. However, we believe all errors with counts of images at NACC have now been corrected.
How will MRI and PET imaging submissions be tracked in the future?
Public SCAN Dashboard
The Public SCAN dashboard will track the number of SCAN-compliant MRI/PET images and the number of participants that images have been submitted for by each ADRC to LONI/NACC. The prototype for this dashboard was demonstrated at the 2022 Fall ADRC meeting. Anticipated availability is Summer of 2023.Private ADRC-Specific SCAN Dashboards:
Each ADRC will also have access to private SCAN MRI and PET dashboards for their individual ADRC that will a) enable them to track the QC status of their MRI and PET submissions, allowing them to rapidly address errors, and b) serve as an auditable record of all SCAN MRI data submitted to LONI/NACC by a given ADRC, downloadable as a csv file.
How will ADRCs who contribute data to SCAN be acknowledged?
“The NACC database is funded by NIA/NIH Grant U24 AG072122. NACC data are contributed by the NIA-funded ADRCs: P30 AG...., etc.”
How and when can researchers access SCAN data?
SCAN Summary Data (Volumes and SUVRs):
- NACC currently provides UDS, neuropathology, and non-SCAN compliant MRI/PET data to researchers anywhere through our Quick Access File
- It takes ~15 minutes for researcher to submit a data request
- Researcher must sign a Data Use Agreement to access this data (NACC's current Data Use Agreement)
- NACC has distributed more than 220 Quick Access Files since May 2022
- Allows self-service cohort selection
- Provide the ability to download raw data directly