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Open Imaging Index
MRI Brain

EDSD

European DTI Study on Dementia

Retrospective multicenter collection of DTI, 3D T1-weighted and FLAIR brain MRI from 139 patients with Alzheimer's disease dementia, 160 with MCI and 194 healthy controls, acquired on 13 scanners at 11 European centers. Access via neuGRID or DZNE Rostock after a signed data usage agreement.

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Overview

The European DTI Study on Dementia (EDSD) is a multicenter collection of diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and structural brain MRI, set up in 2010 to test how well DTI markers separate patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) dementia and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) from healthy controls, and how much these markers vary between sites. The German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) in Rostock coordinates it. Data were collected retrospectively, first from AD patients and controls, with MCI patients added from 2013. The database is meant to keep growing, so the numbers below describe the state of March 2016.

Composition

The study sample holds 139 patients with probable AD (NINCDS-ADRDA criteria), 160 with MCI (Petersen criteria) and 194 cognitively healthy controls. Mean age is 73 years in the AD and MCI groups and 69 years in the control group. The paper gives sex per group. Demographic and clinical data come with the images. Neuropsychological scores (CERAD), APOE status, CSF amyloid and tau, and clinical follow-up exist only for subsets; for example, CSF data cover 76 MCI patients and follow-up shows 46 of 106 MCI patients converting to AD.

Acquisition

After quality control there are 493 DTI scans, 512 3D T1-weighted scans and 300 FLAIR scans. They come from 11 centers in Germany, Italy, Ireland, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, on 13 scanners from GE, Siemens and Philips at 1.5 T or 3 T. DTI protocols differ between scanners, with 6 to 61 gradient directions and mostly b = 1000 s/mm². The data are offered as DICOM and NIfTI, and as NIfTI preprocessed at the coordinating center with FSL and SPM8 (eddy current and motion correction, tensor fitting, registration to a custom template, smoothing).

Known limitations

  • Acquisition protocols are not harmonized, which suits multicenter variability studies but adds site effects.
  • FLAIR scans and most clinical extras cover only part of the sample.
  • Scans that failed quality control were removed from the shared database.
  • The neuGRID2 data portfolio describes its copy as 471 DTI and 471 MPRAGE scans, so the hosted version can differ from the paper.
  • The paper's Table 3 lists one center's scanner as a "Siemens Achieva", a model name Philips uses, so the split between Siemens and Philips scans is uncertain.
  • Access requires registration and a signed data usage agreement whose text is not published.

Cohort

Aggregate numbers from the sources below. Bars are relative to the 493 subjects.

Sex

  • Female 247 50%
  • Male 246 50%

Contrast / sequence

scans, values can overlap

  • T1-weighted 512 39%
  • Diffusion-weighted 493 38%
  • FLAIR 300 23%

Condition

subjects, values can overlap

  • Healthy control 194 39%
  • Mild cognitive impairment 160 32%
  • Alzheimer's disease 139 28%

License and access

Our reading of the license, not legal advice. Before you use the data, read the original license and confirm that your use is allowed. We take no responsibility for how you use a dataset. Full disclaimer

Access
Signed agreement

Sign a data use agreement, often reviewed by the provider

Access page

European DTI Study on Dementia Data Usage Agreement

Open to anyone with a scientific interest after registering and signing a data usage agreement, either on neuGRID or by e-mail to DZNE Rostock. The agreement text itself is not published, so every rule other than the signature is unspecified.

Original license text Version read: Agreement text not published. Terms as described in Section 3 of Brueggen et al. 2017 and on the neuGRID2 data portfolio page, read 2026-10-09 Checked 2026-10-09

What you can do

  • Not stated
  • Not stated
  • Train ML models Not stated
  • Create derived data Not stated
  • Publish results Not stated

What you can share

  • Share the data Not stated
  • Share derived data Not stated
  • Share trained models Not stated

What you must do

  • Cite or credit Not stated
  • Share alike Not stated
  • Yes
  • Ethics approval Not stated
  • Manuscript review Not stated
  • Release code Not stated
  • Return results Not stated
  • Delete after use Not stated

Limits

  • No re-identification Not stated
  • Location limits Not stated

Citation

Brueggen K, Grothe MJ, Dyrba M, et al. The European DTI Study on Dementia - A multicenter DTI and MRI study on Alzheimer's disease and Mild Cognitive Impairment. NeuroImage 144(Pt B):305-308 (2017). doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2016.03.067

All numbers

Every number on this page, as stored in stats.csv, with its source.

MeasureBreakdownValueSource
Subjectstotal
sum of 139 AD, 160 MCI and 194 HC, three disjoint groups that make up the study sample as of March 2016
493brueggen2017
Section 2.1
Subjectscondition=alzheimers
as of March 2016
139brueggen2017
Section 2.1
Subjectscondition=mci
as of March 2016
160brueggen2017
Section 2.1
Subjectscondition=healthy
as of March 2016
194brueggen2017
Section 2.1
Subjectssex=female
sum of 79 AD, 69 MCI and 99 HC
247brueggen2017
Table 1
Subjectssex=male
sum of 60 AD, 91 MCI and 95 HC
246brueggen2017
Table 1
Subjectscondition=alzheimers;sex=female 79brueggen2017
Table 1
Subjectscondition=alzheimers;sex=male 60brueggen2017
Table 1
Subjectscondition=mci;sex=female 69brueggen2017
Table 1
Subjectscondition=mci;sex=male 91brueggen2017
Table 1
Subjectscondition=healthy;sex=female 99brueggen2017
Table 1
Subjectscondition=healthy;sex=male 95brueggen2017
Table 1
Mean agecondition=alzheimers 73brueggen2017
Table 1
Age SDcondition=alzheimers 8brueggen2017
Table 1
Mean agecondition=mci 73brueggen2017
Table 1
Age SDcondition=mci 7brueggen2017
Table 1
Mean agecondition=healthy 69brueggen2017
Table 1
Age SDcondition=healthy 6brueggen2017
Table 1
Scanstotal
sum of 493 DTI, 512 T1-weighted and 300 FLAIR scans, the three image types the paper lists
1,305brueggen2017
Section 2.2
Scanscontrast=dwi
after quality control
493brueggen2017
Section 2.2
Scanscontrast=T1w
3D gradient echo T1-weighted, after quality control
512brueggen2017
Section 2.2
Scanscontrast=FLAIR
after quality control, provided for a subsample only
300brueggen2017
Section 2.2
Scanscontrast=dwi;condition=alzheimers 139brueggen2017
Table 3
Scanscontrast=dwi;condition=mci 160brueggen2017
Table 3
Scanscontrast=dwi;condition=healthy 194brueggen2017
Table 3
Scanscontrast=dwi;field_strength=1.5
sum of the three 1.5 T scanners (Sonata 59, Avanto 29, Avanto 40)
128brueggen2017
Tables 3 and 4
Scanscontrast=dwi;field_strength=3
sum of the ten 3 T scanners
365brueggen2017
Tables 3 and 4
Scanscontrast=dwi;vendor=ge
GE Signa HDxt
18brueggen2017
Table 3

Sources

The keys used in the table above.