You will be asked to remove your shoes and stand against a wall so that we can measure your height both while standing and sitting.

You will be asked to remove your shoes and stand on a weighing scale so that we can measure your weight. At the same time, the machine will electronically determine the fat composition of your body.

You will be seated, and we will place a measurement cuff around your arm. The cuff is inflated and then the cuff is gradually deflated. The machine measures your blood pressure by detecting your pulse.

We will measure your waist and hip.

You will be asked to hold a grip device and squeeze it as hard as you can. This will enable us to measure the strength of your grip.

An electrocardiogram (ECG) records the electrical activity of the heart. The heart produces tiny electrical impulses that spread through the heart muscle to make the heartbeat. These impulses are detected by the ECG machine. The process is painless and harmless and will take up to 10-15 minutes. It records electrical impulses coming from your body and it does not put any electricity into your body. For this test, we will ask you to lie down on a couch and we will then connect you to the ECG machine using new, clean disposable patches on your arms, legs, and chest.

We place ultrasound gel on your neck and gently run an ultrasound probe, like the ones used in pregnancy, along your neck to get a three-dimensional image of your carotid arteries. The test will take about 5 minutes.

The Vicorder provides non-invasive measurement of your arterial stiffness. You will wear one measurement cuff on your arm and one on your leg for 5-10 minutes.

This is an examination of the retina and blood vessels in your eye. An eye camera, similar to those used by ophthalmologists and optometrists, will take a photograph of the back of the inside of your eye. If you wear contact lenses, you will NOT be required to remove these for this test.

The scanner uses extremely low-dose x-ray radiation to measure both your bone density and also your body composition, including the distribution of fat and muscle. The scan is undertaken while wearing a gown and you will be asked to lie flat on the scanning table for around 5-10 minutes.

You will first be asked some questions to make sure you are able to do this test. Then you will wear the gown provided and walk on a treadmill for approximately 10 minutes. During this test you will wear a heart rate monitor around your chest. The results will allow us to estimate the response of your body to mild exercise.

(70 tests)

You will be asked to give a sample of blood for analysis. The skin will be wiped clean with a disinfecting wipe, and a new, clean, disposable needle will be inserted through the area of cleansed skin into a vein. Nothing will be injected into you. The blood will flow out through the needle into a syringe or special vacuumed tubes. We will take approximately 60 milliliters of your blood, which is around the same volume as a “pocket sized” hand sanitizer gel. Because the volume of blood taken is so small, there will be no physical effect on you.

You will be asked to take a Deep Breath and blow out for as long as you can into a mouthpiece. We will be using a clean, new mouthpiece for each participant.

(For the Eligible Participants Only!)

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is a method of imaging the body using a large magnet. The magnet is a circular tube which is open at both ends with a table that can move through the tube. The scanner can visualize the bones, tissues, organs, and other structures within the body. QPHI will not use any contrast medium during the scanning procedure.  MRI scans at Qatar Biobank are performed only by highly trained radiographers with expert knowledge in MRI scanning.