Supervised machine learning based multi-task artificial intelligence classification of retinopathies

Artificial intelligence (AI) classification holds promise as a novel and affordable screening tool for clinical management of ocular diseases. Rural and underserved areas, which suffer from lack of access to experienced ophthalmologists may particularly benefit from this technology. Quantitative optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) imaging provides excellent capability to identify subtle vascular distortions, which are useful for classifying retinovascular diseases. However, application of AI for differentiation and classification of multiple eye diseases is not yet established. In this study, we demonstrate supervised machine learning based multi-task OCTA classification. We sought 1) to differentiate normal from diseased ocular conditions, 2) to differentiate different ocular disease conditions from each other, and 3) to stage the severity of each ocular condition. Quantitative OCTA features, including blood vessel tortuosity (BVT), blood vascular caliber (BVC), vessel perimeter index (VPI), blood vessel density (BVD), foveal avascular zone (FAZ) area (FAZ-A), and FAZ contour irregularity (FAZ-CI) were fully automatically extracted from the OCTA images. A stepwise backward elimination approach was employed to identify sensitive OCTA features and optimal-feature-combinations for the multi-task classification. For proof-of-concept demonstration, diabetic retinopathy (DR) and sickle cell retinopathy (SCR) were used to validate the supervised machine leaning classifier. The presented AI classification methodology is applicable and can be readily extended to other ocular diseases, holding promise to enable a mass-screening platform for clinical deployment and telemedicine.Comment: Supplemental material attached at the en

Fluid segmentation in Neutrosophic domain

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) as retina imaging technology is currently used by ophthalmologist as a non-invasive and non-contact method for diagnosis of agerelated degeneration (AMD) and diabetic macular edema (DME) diseases. Fluid regions in OCT images reveal the main signs of AMD and DME. In this paper, an efficient and fast clustering in neutrosophic (NS) domain referred as neutrosophic C-means is adapted for fluid segmentation. For this task, a NCM cost function in NS domain is adapted for fluid segmentation and then optimized by gradient descend methods which leads to binary segmentation of OCT Bscans to fluid and tissue regions. The proposed method is evaluated in OCT datasets of subjects with DME abnormalities. Results showed that the proposed method outperforms existing fluid segmentation methods by 6% in dice coefficient and sensitivity criteria

Auto-Grading OCT Images Diagnostic Tool for Retinal Disease Classification

Retinal eye disease is the most common reason for visual deterioration. Long-term management and follow-up are critical to detect the changes in symptoms. Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) is a non-invasive diagnostic tool for diagnosing and managing various retinal eye diseases. With the increasing desire for OCT image, the clinicians are suffered from the burden of time on diagnoses and treatment. This thesis proposes an auto-grading diagnostic tool to divide the OCT image for retinal disease classification. In the tool, the classification model implements convolutional neural networks (CNNs), and the model training is based on denoised OCT images. The tool can detect the uploaded OCT image and automatically generate a result of classification in the categories of Choroidal neovascularization (CNV), Diabetic macular edema (DME), Multiple drusen, and Normal. The system will definitely improve the performance of retinal eye disease diagnosis and alleviate the burden on the medical system

The Role of Medical Image Modalities and AI in the Early Detection, Diagnosis and Grading of Retinal Diseases: A Survey.

Traditional dilated ophthalmoscopy can reveal diseases, such as age-related macular degeneration (AMD), diabetic retinopathy (DR), diabetic macular edema (DME), retinal tear, epiretinal membrane, macular hole, retinal detachment, retinitis pigmentosa, retinal vein occlusion (RVO), and retinal artery occlusion (RAO). Among these diseases, AMD and DR are the major causes of progressive vision loss, while the latter is recognized as a world-wide epidemic. Advances in retinal imaging have improved the diagnosis and management of DR and AMD. In this review article, we focus on the variable imaging modalities for accurate diagnosis, early detection, and staging of both AMD and DR. In addition, the role of artificial intelligence (AI) in providing automated detection, diagnosis, and staging of these diseases will be surveyed. Furthermore, current works are summarized and discussed. Finally, projected future trends are outlined. The work done on this survey indicates the effective role of AI in the early detection, diagnosis, and staging of DR and/or AMD. In the future, more AI solutions will be presented that hold promise for clinical applications

Automatic macular edema identification and characterization using OCT images

© 2018. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/. This version of the article: Samagaio, G., Estévez, A., Moura, J. de, Novo, J., Fernández, M. I., & Ortega, M. (2018). “Automatic macular edema identification and characterization using OCT images” has been accepted for publication in Computer Methods and Programs in Biomedicine, 163, 47–63. The Version of Record is available online at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cmpb.2018.05.033.[Abstract]: Background and objective: The detection and characterization of the intraretinal fluid accumulation constitutes a crucial ophthalmological issue as it provides useful information for the identification and diagnosis of the different types of Macular Edema (ME). These types are clinically defined, according to the clinical guidelines, as: Serous Retinal Detachment (SRD), Diffuse Retinal Thickening (DRT) and Cystoid Macular Edema (CME). Their accurate identification and characterization facilitate the diagnostic process, determining the disease severity and, therefore, allowing the clinicians to achieve more precise analysis and suitable treatments. Methods: This paper proposes a new fully automatic system for the identification and characterization of the three types of ME using Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) images. In the case of SRD and CME edemas, multilevel image thresholding approaches were designed and combined with the application of ad-hoc clinical restrictions. The case of DRT edemas, given their complexity and fuzzy regional appearance, was approached by a learning strategy that exploits intensity, texture and clinical-based information to identify their presence. Results: The system provided satisfactory results with F-Measures of 87.54% and 91.99% for the DRT and CME detections, respectively. In the case of SRD edemas, the system correctly detected all the cases that were included in the designed dataset. Conclusions: The proposed methodology offered an accurate performance for the individual identification and characterization of the three different types of ME in OCT images. In fact, the method is capable to handle the ME analysis even in cases of significant severity with the simultaneous existence of the three ME types that appear merged inside the retinal layers.This work is supported by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Government of Spain and FEDER funds of the European Union through the PI14/02161 and the DTS15/00153 research projects and by the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad, Government of Spain through the DPI2015-69948-R research project. Also, this work has received financial support from the European Union (European Regional Development Fund - ERDF) and the Xunta de Galicia, Centro singular de investigación de Galicia accreditation 2016–2019, Ref. ED431G/01; and Grupos de Referencia Competitiva, Ref. ED431C 2016-047.Xunta de Galicia; ED431G/01Xunta de Galicia; ED431C 2016-04