A study on various quantification algorithms for diabetic retinopathy and diabetic maculopathy grading

Abstract

Diabetes also known as diabetes mellitus (DM) is a prominent disease all over the world. It is a metabolic disorder occurring due to high blood sugar levels over a prolonged period. Prolonged diabetes will cause diabetic retinopathy affects retina. Diabetes affecting macular area is called diabetic maculopathy. Developing automated systems for identification, grading and quantification of the retinal pathologies associated with DM is on the rise. There are four popular modalities that are useful for clinical diagnosis and treatment of diabetic maculopathy. They are slit-lamp biomicroscopy, color fundus images, fundus fluorescein angiograms (FFA) and optical coherence tomography (OCT). It is observed that FFA plays an vital role in the treatment of diabetic macular edema (DME). There are two major types of diabetic retinopathy: non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy (NPDR) and proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR). NPDR shows up as retinal exudates or cotton wool spots or microvascular abnormalities or as superficial retinal hemorrhages or as microaneurysms. PDR is characterized by severe small retinal vessel damage and reduced oxygenization of retina. Here a survey on the quantification of the macular edema, retinal exudates, microaneurysms and other retinal pathologies in diabetic maculopathy and diabetic retinopathy are elaborated.