Robust Vessel Segmentation in Fundus Images

One of the most common modalities to examine the human eye is the eye-fundus photograph. The evaluation of fundus photographs is carried out by medical experts during time-consuming visual inspection. Our aim is to accelerate this process using computer aided diagnosis. As a first step, it is necess...

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Main Authors: A. Budai, R. Bock, A. Maier, J. Hornegger, G. Michelson
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2013-01-01
Series:International Journal of Biomedical Imaging
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2013/154860
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author A. Budai
R. Bock
A. Maier
J. Hornegger
G. Michelson
author_facet A. Budai
R. Bock
A. Maier
J. Hornegger
G. Michelson
author_sort A. Budai
collection DOAJ
description One of the most common modalities to examine the human eye is the eye-fundus photograph. The evaluation of fundus photographs is carried out by medical experts during time-consuming visual inspection. Our aim is to accelerate this process using computer aided diagnosis. As a first step, it is necessary to segment structures in the images for tissue differentiation. As the eye is the only organ, where the vasculature can be imaged in an in vivo and noninterventional way without using expensive scanners, the vessel tree is one of the most interesting and important structures to analyze. The quality and resolution of fundus images are rapidly increasing. Thus, segmentation methods need to be adapted to the new challenges of high resolutions. In this paper, we present a method to reduce calculation time, achieve high accuracy, and increase sensitivity compared to the original Frangi method. This method contains approaches to avoid potential problems like specular reflexes of thick vessels. The proposed method is evaluated using the STARE and DRIVE databases and we propose a new high resolution fundus database to compare it to the state-of-the-art algorithms. The results show an average accuracy above 94% and low computational needs. This outperforms state-of-the-art methods.
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publishDate 2013-01-01
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series International Journal of Biomedical Imaging
spelling doaj-art-0cbfb2f4cdf44b11b3af65d6e39d69df2025-08-20T03:54:15ZengWileyInternational Journal of Biomedical Imaging1687-41881687-41962013-01-01201310.1155/2013/154860154860Robust Vessel Segmentation in Fundus ImagesA. Budai0R. Bock1A. Maier2J. Hornegger3G. Michelson4Pattern Recognition Lab, Friedrich-Alexander University, Erlangen-Nuremberg, 91058 Erlangen, GermanyPattern Recognition Lab, Friedrich-Alexander University, Erlangen-Nuremberg, 91058 Erlangen, GermanyPattern Recognition Lab, Friedrich-Alexander University, Erlangen-Nuremberg, 91058 Erlangen, GermanyPattern Recognition Lab, Friedrich-Alexander University, Erlangen-Nuremberg, 91058 Erlangen, GermanyErlangen Graduate School in Advanced Optical Technologies (SAOT), 91052 Erlangen, GermanyOne of the most common modalities to examine the human eye is the eye-fundus photograph. The evaluation of fundus photographs is carried out by medical experts during time-consuming visual inspection. Our aim is to accelerate this process using computer aided diagnosis. As a first step, it is necessary to segment structures in the images for tissue differentiation. As the eye is the only organ, where the vasculature can be imaged in an in vivo and noninterventional way without using expensive scanners, the vessel tree is one of the most interesting and important structures to analyze. The quality and resolution of fundus images are rapidly increasing. Thus, segmentation methods need to be adapted to the new challenges of high resolutions. In this paper, we present a method to reduce calculation time, achieve high accuracy, and increase sensitivity compared to the original Frangi method. This method contains approaches to avoid potential problems like specular reflexes of thick vessels. The proposed method is evaluated using the STARE and DRIVE databases and we propose a new high resolution fundus database to compare it to the state-of-the-art algorithms. The results show an average accuracy above 94% and low computational needs. This outperforms state-of-the-art methods.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2013/154860
spellingShingle A. Budai
R. Bock
A. Maier
J. Hornegger
G. Michelson
Robust Vessel Segmentation in Fundus Images
International Journal of Biomedical Imaging
title Robust Vessel Segmentation in Fundus Images
title_full Robust Vessel Segmentation in Fundus Images
title_fullStr Robust Vessel Segmentation in Fundus Images
title_full_unstemmed Robust Vessel Segmentation in Fundus Images
title_short Robust Vessel Segmentation in Fundus Images
title_sort robust vessel segmentation in fundus images
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2013/154860
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AT rbock robustvesselsegmentationinfundusimages
AT amaier robustvesselsegmentationinfundusimages
AT jhornegger robustvesselsegmentationinfundusimages
AT gmichelson robustvesselsegmentationinfundusimages