Title
Enhanced visualization of the retinal vasculature using depth information in OCT.
Abstract
Retinal vessel tree extraction is a crucial step for analyzing the microcirculation, a frequently needed process in the study of relevant diseases. To date, this has normally been done by using 2D image capture paradigms, offering a restricted visualization of the real layout of the retinal vasculature. In this work, we propose a new approach that automatically segments and reconstructs the 3D retinal vessel tree by combining near-infrared reflectance retinography information with Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) sections. Our proposal identifies the vessels, estimates their calibers, and obtains the depth at all the positions of the entire vessel tree, thereby enabling the reconstruction of the 3D layout of the complete arteriovenous tree for subsequent analysis. The method was tested using 991 OCT images combined with their corresponding near-infrared reflectance retinography. The different stages of the methodology were validated using the opinion of an expert as a reference. The tests offered accurate results, showing coherent reconstructions of the 3D vasculature that can be analyzed in the diagnosis of relevant diseases affecting the retinal microcirculation, such as hypertension or diabetes, among others.
Year
DOI
Venue
2017
10.1007/s11517-017-1660-8
Med. Biol. Engineering and Computing
Keywords
Field
DocType
Computer-aided diagnosis,Vascular structure,Retinal imaging,Optical Coherence Tomography
Computer vision,Optical coherence tomography,Computer science,Visualization,Computer-aided diagnosis,Retinography,Vascular structure,Image capture,Artificial intelligence,Retinal,Reflectivity
Journal
Volume
Issue
ISSN
55
12
1741-0444
Citations 
PageRank 
References 
6
0.80
21
Authors
5
Name
Order
Citations
PageRank
Joaquim de Moura1148.60
J Novo28918.73
Pablo Charlón392.27
Noelia Barreira418217.47
M Ortega523537.13