Semantic-guided generative latent diffusion augmentation approaches for improving the neovascularization diagnosis in OCT-A imaging

Abstract

This is the Accepted version of the article: Morís, D. I., de Moura, J., Carmona, E. J., Novo, J., & Ortega, M. (2025). ‘Semantic-guided generative latent diffusion augmentation approaches for improving the neovascularization diagnosis in OCT-A imaging’ published in: Pattern Recognition Letters, 189, p. 31-37. The Version of Record is available online at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.patrec.2025.01.003.[Abstract]: Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD) presents an enormous challenge in Western Societies due to the increase in life expectancy. AMD is characterized for causing Macular Neovascularization. Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography (OCT-A) represents an advanced method to help find evidence of the disease. In this context, deep learning algorithms are suitable to make a screening of the disease. However, biomedical imaging domains are usually affected by the data scarcity issue. The mitigation of this problem can be achieved with the support of generative latent diffusion models. This represents a powerful strategy to artificially augment the cardinality of the original dataset. In this work, we present a novel fully automatic methodology to generate OCT-A images, guided by semantic information, to reduce the impact of data scarcity and to enable an accurate neovascularization diagnosis. The evaluation has been performed with a specific dataset composed of two different fields of view commonly used by clinicians. The results demonstrate a top accuracy of 96.50% 1.37%, using 3 × 3 scans, and 95.79% 1.44%, when using 6 × 6 scans. The proposed methodology has great potential to be extrapolated to other imaging modalities and domains.This work received funding from the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (MCI) through the grants [PID2023-148913OB-I00], [TED2021-131201B-I00], and [PDC2022-133132-I00], and from the Consellería de Educación, Universidade, e Formación Profesional, Xunta de Galicia, Grupos de Referencia Competitiva, under grant [ED431C 2024/33]. Additional support was provided by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III under grant [FORT23/00010], as part of the Programa FORTALECE from the MCI. This work was also supported by the Horizon Europe Programme through the ACHILLES/101189689 project (HORIZON-CL4-2024-DATA-01-01).Xunta de Galicia; ED431C 2024/3