scholarly journals Automatic Choroid Vascularity Index Calculation in Optical Coherence Tomography Images Low Contrast Sclerochoroidal Junction Using Deep Learning

Author(s):  
Roya Arian ◽  
Tahereh Mahmoudi ◽  
Hamid Riazi-Esfahani ◽  
Rahele Kafieh ◽  
Hooshang Faghihi ◽  
...  

Abstract Choroidal vascularity index (CVI) is a new biomarker defined for retinal optical coherence tomography (OCT) images for measuring and evaluating the choroidal vascular structure. CVI is the ratio of the choroidal luminal area (LA) to the total choroidal area (TCA). The automatic calculation of this index is important for ophthalmologists but has not yet been explored. In this study, we proposed a fully automated method based on deep learning for calculating CVI in three main steps: 1- segmentation of the choroidal boundary, 2- detection of the choroidal luminal vessels, and 3- computation of the CVI. The proposed method is evaluated in complex situations like the presence of diabetic retinopathy and pachychoroid spectrum. In pachychoroid spectrum, the choroid is thickened, and the boundary between choroid and sclera (sclerochoroidal junction) is blurred, which makes the segmentation more challenging. The proposed method is designed based on the U-Net model, and a new loss function is proposed to overcome the segmentation problems. The vascular LA is then calculated using Niblack’s local thresholding method, and the CVI value is finally computed. The experimental results for the segmentation stage with the best-performing model and the proposed loss function were used showed dice coefficients of 0.941 and 0.936 in diabetic retinopathy and pachychoroid spectrum patients, respectively. The unsigned boundary localization errors in the presence of diabetic retinopathy were 0.0020 and 0.0138 pixels for the BM boundary and sclerochoroidal junction, respectively. Similarly, the unsigned errors in the presence of pachychoroid spectrum were 0.0072 and 0.0254 pixels for BM and sclerochoroidal junction. The performance of the proposed method for calculating CVI was evaluated; the Bland-Altman plot indicated acceptable agreement between the values allocated by experts and the proposed method in the presence of diabetic retinopathy and pachychoroid spectrum.

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Reza Mirshahi ◽  
Pasha Anvari ◽  
Hamid Riazi-Esfahani ◽  
Mahsa Sardarinia ◽  
Masood Naseripour ◽  
...  

AbstractThe purpose of this study was to introduce a new deep learning (DL) model for segmentation of the fovea avascular zone (FAZ) in en face optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) and compare the results with those of the device’s built-in software and manual measurements in healthy subjects and diabetic patients. In this retrospective study, FAZ borders were delineated in the inner retinal slab of 3 × 3 enface OCTA images of 131 eyes of 88 diabetic patients and 32 eyes of 18 healthy subjects. To train a deep convolutional neural network (CNN) model, 126 enface OCTA images (104 eyes with diabetic retinopathy and 22 normal eyes) were used as training/validation dataset. Then, the accuracy of the model was evaluated using a dataset consisting of OCTA images of 10 normal eyes and 27 eyes with diabetic retinopathy. The CNN model was based on Detectron2, an open-source modular object detection library. In addition, automated FAZ measurements were conducted using the device’s built-in commercial software, and manual FAZ delineation was performed using ImageJ software. Bland–Altman analysis was used to show 95% limit of agreement (95% LoA) between different methods. The mean dice similarity coefficient of the DL model was 0.94 ± 0.04 in the testing dataset. There was excellent agreement between automated, DL model and manual measurements of FAZ in healthy subjects (95% LoA of − 0.005 to 0.026 mm2 between automated and manual measurement and 0.000 to 0.009 mm2 between DL and manual FAZ area). In diabetic eyes, the agreement between DL and manual measurements was excellent (95% LoA of − 0.063 to 0.095), however, there was a poor agreement between the automated and manual method (95% LoA of − 0.186 to 0.331). The presence of diabetic macular edema and intraretinal cysts at the fovea were associated with erroneous FAZ measurements by the device’s built-in software. In conclusion, the DL model showed an excellent accuracy in detection of FAZ border in enfaces OCTA images of both diabetic patients and healthy subjects. The DL and manual measurements outperformed the automated measurements of the built-in software.


Circulation ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 142 (Suppl_3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Juhwan Lee ◽  
Yazan Gharaibeh ◽  
Vladislav N Zimin ◽  
Luis A Dallan ◽  
Hiram G Bezerra ◽  
...  

Introduction: Major calcifications are of great concern when performing percutaneous coronary intervention as they hinder stent deployment. Calcifications can lead to under-expansion and strut malapposition, with increased risk of thrombosis and in-stent restenosis. Therefore, accurate identification, visualization, and quantification of calcifications are important. Objective: In this study, we developed a 2-step deep learning approach to enable segmentation of major calcifications in a typical 500+ frame intravascular optical coherence tomography (IVOCT) images. Methods: The dataset consisted of a total of 12,551 IVOCT frames across 68 patients with 68 pullbacks. We applied a series of pre-processing steps including guidewire/shadow removal, lumen detection, pixel shifting, and Gaussian filtering. To detect the major calcifications in step 1, we implemented the 3D convolutional neural network consisting of 5 convolutional, 5 max-pooling, and 2 fully-connected layers. In step-2, SegNet deep learning model was used to segment calcified plaques. In both steps, classification errors were reduced using conditional random field. Results: Step-1 reliably identified major calcifications (sensitivity/specificity: 97.7%/87.7%). Semantic segmentation of calcifications following step-2 was typically visually quite good (Fig. 1) with (sensitivity/specificity: 86.2%/96.7%). Our method was superior to a single step approach and showed excellent reproducibility on repetitive IVOCT pullbacks, with very small differences of clinically relevant attributes (maximum angle, maximum thickness, and length) and the exact same IVOCT calcium scores for assessment of stent deployment. Conclusions: We developed the fully-automated method for identifying calcifications in IVOCT images based on a 2-step deep learning approach. Extensive analyses indicate that our method is very informative for both live-time treatment planning and research purposes.


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Takamasa Kinoshita ◽  
Hiroko Imaizumi ◽  
Miho Shimizu ◽  
Junya Mori ◽  
Akira Hatanaka ◽  
...  

Abstract Knowledgeof the choroidal structures in eyes with diabetes and diabetic retinopathy (DR) should provide information on the pathogenesis of DR. A prospective study was performed to determine the systemic and ocular factors that affect the choroidal structures in eyes with diabetes. Two-hundred consecutive diabetic subjects consisted of 160 treatment-naïve patients with different stages of DR and 40 patients with proliferative DR with prior panretinal photocoagulation (PRP). All underwent blood and urine tests and enhanced depth imaging optical coherence tomography (EDI-OCT). The cross-sectional EDI-OCT images of the subfoveal choroid were binarized to measure the total choroidal area (TCA), luminal area, and stromal area. Multivariate regression analyses were performed to determine the systemic and ocular factors that were significantly correlated with the choroidal structures. The subfoveal choroidal thickness, TCA, luminal area, and stromal area were larger at more advanced stage of DR, and smaller in eyes with PRP than those without (P < 0.001). The TCA and stromal area were significantly and positively correlated with the degree of albuminuria (P = 0.034, P = 0.025, respectively). The choroidal lumen and stroma may increase as the stages of DR progress and decrease after PRP. Albuminuria may be associated with the choroidal stromal edema.


2021 ◽  
pp. bjophthalmol-2020-318646
Author(s):  
Honglian Xiong ◽  
Qi Sheng You ◽  
Yukun Guo ◽  
Jie Wang ◽  
Bingjie Wang ◽  
...  

SynopsisA deep-learning-based macular extrafoveal avascular area (EAA) on a 6×6 mm optical coherence tomography (OCT) angiogram is less dependent on the signal strength and shadow artefacts, providing better diagnostic accuracy for diabetic retinopathy (DR) severity than the commercial software measured extrafoveal vessel density (EVD).AimsTo compare a deep-learning-based EAA to commercial output EVD in the diagnostic accuracy of determining DR severity levels from 6×6 mm OCT angiography (OCTA) scans.MethodsThe 6×6 mm macular OCTA scans were acquired on one eye of each participant with a spectral-domain OCTA system. After excluding the central 1 mm diameter circle, the EAA on superficial vascular complex was measured with a deep-learning-based algorithm, and the EVD was obtained with commercial software.ResultsThe study included 34 healthy controls and 118 diabetic patients. EAA and EVD were highly correlated with DR severity (ρ=0.812 and −0.577, respectively, both p<0.001) and visual acuity (r=−0.357 and 0.420, respectively, both p<0.001). EAA had a significantly (p<0.001) higher correlation with DR severity than EVD. With the specificity at 95%, the sensitivities of EAA for differentiating diabetes mellitus (DM), DR and severe DR from control were 80.5%, 92.0% and 100.0%, respectively, significantly higher than those of EVD 11.9% (p=0.001), 13.6% (p<0.001) and 15.8% (p<0.001), respectively. EVD was significantly correlated with signal strength index (SSI) (r=0.607, p<0.001) and shadow area (r=−0.530, p<0.001), but EAA was not (r=−0.044, p=0.805 and r=−0.046, p=0.796, respectively). Adjustment of EVD with SSI and shadow area lowered sensitivities for detection of DM, DR and severe DR.ConclusionMacular EAA on 6×6 mm OCTA measured with a deep learning-based algorithm is less dependent on the signal strength and shadow artefacts, and provides better diagnostic accuracy for DR severity than EVD measured with the instrument-embedded software.


2019 ◽  
Vol 369 ◽  
pp. 134-144 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xuechen Li ◽  
Linlin Shen ◽  
Meixiao Shen ◽  
Fan Tan ◽  
Connor S. Qiu

2020 ◽  
pp. bjophthalmol-2020-317825
Author(s):  
Yonghao Li ◽  
Weibo Feng ◽  
Xiujuan Zhao ◽  
Bingqian Liu ◽  
Yan Zhang ◽  
...  

Background/aimsTo apply deep learning technology to develop an artificial intelligence (AI) system that can identify vision-threatening conditions in high myopia patients based on optical coherence tomography (OCT) macular images.MethodsIn this cross-sectional, prospective study, a total of 5505 qualified OCT macular images obtained from 1048 high myopia patients admitted to Zhongshan Ophthalmic Centre (ZOC) from 2012 to 2017 were selected for the development of the AI system. The independent test dataset included 412 images obtained from 91 high myopia patients recruited at ZOC from January 2019 to May 2019. We adopted the InceptionResnetV2 architecture to train four independent convolutional neural network (CNN) models to identify the following four vision-threatening conditions in high myopia: retinoschisis, macular hole, retinal detachment and pathological myopic choroidal neovascularisation. Focal Loss was used to address class imbalance, and optimal operating thresholds were determined according to the Youden Index.ResultsIn the independent test dataset, the areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves were high for all conditions (0.961 to 0.999). Our AI system achieved sensitivities equal to or even better than those of retina specialists as well as high specificities (greater than 90%). Moreover, our AI system provided a transparent and interpretable diagnosis with heatmaps.ConclusionsWe used OCT macular images for the development of CNN models to identify vision-threatening conditions in high myopia patients. Our models achieved reliable sensitivities and high specificities, comparable to those of retina specialists and may be applied for large-scale high myopia screening and patient follow-up.


2021 ◽  
pp. 153537022110285
Author(s):  
Hao Zhou ◽  
Tommaso Bacci ◽  
K Bailey Freund ◽  
Ruikang K Wang

The choroid provides nutritional support for the retinal pigment epithelium and photoreceptors. Choroidal dysfunction plays a major role in several of the most important causes of vision loss including age-related macular degeneration, myopic degeneration, and pachychoroid diseases such as central serous chorioretinopathy and polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy. We describe an imaging technique using depth-resolved swept-source optical coherence tomography (SS-OCT) that provides full-thickness three-dimensional (3D) visualization of choroidal anatomy including topographical features of individual vessels. Enrolled subjects with different clinical manifestations within the pachychoroid disease spectrum underwent 15 mm × 9 mm volume scans centered on the fovea. A fully automated method segmented the choroidal vessels using their hyporeflective lumens. Binarized choroidal vessels were rendered in a 3D viewer as a vascular network within a choroidal slab. The network of choroidal vessels was color depth-encoded with a reference to the Bruch’s membrane segmentation. Topographical features of the choroidal vasculature were characterized and compared with choroidal imaging obtained with indocyanine green angiography (ICGA) from the same subject. The en face SS-OCT projections of the larger choroid vessels closely resembled to that obtained with ICGA, with the automated SS-OCT approach proving additional depth-encoded 3D information. In 16 eyes with pachychoroid disease, the SS-OCT approach added clinically relevant structural details, including choroidal thickness and vessel depth, which the ICGA studies could not provide. Our technique appears to advance the in vivo visualization of the full-thickness choroid, successfully reveals the topographical features of choroidal vasculature, and shows potential for further quantitative analysis when compared with other choroidal imaging techniques. This improved visualization of choroidal vasculature and its 3D structure should provide an insight into choroid-related disease mechanisms as well as their responses to treatment.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. 5488
Author(s):  
Wei Ping Hsia ◽  
Siu Lun Tse ◽  
Chia Jen Chang ◽  
Yu Len Huang

The purpose of this article is to evaluate the accuracy of the optical coherence tomography (OCT) measurement of choroidal thickness in healthy eyes using a deep-learning method with the Mask R-CNN model. Thirty EDI-OCT of thirty patients were enrolled. A mask region-based convolutional neural network (Mask R-CNN) model composed of deep residual network (ResNet) and feature pyramid networks (FPNs) with standard convolution and fully connected heads for mask and box prediction, respectively, was used to automatically depict the choroid layer. The average choroidal thickness and subfoveal choroidal thickness were measured. The results of this study showed that ResNet 50 layers deep (R50) model and ResNet 101 layers deep (R101). R101 U R50 (OR model) demonstrated the best accuracy with an average error of 4.85 pixels and 4.86 pixels, respectively. The R101 ∩ R50 (AND model) took the least time with an average execution time of 4.6 s. Mask-RCNN models showed a good prediction rate of choroidal layer with accuracy rates of 90% and 89.9% for average choroidal thickness and average subfoveal choroidal thickness, respectively. In conclusion, the deep-learning method using the Mask-RCNN model provides a faster and accurate measurement of choroidal thickness. Comparing with manual delineation, it provides better effectiveness, which is feasible for clinical application and larger scale of research on choroid.


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