Multiresolution localization and segmentation of the optical disc in fundus images using inpainted background and vessel information

In this paper we present a novel method for the automatic location and segmentation of the optical disk in fundus images. It is based on the decoupling of vessel and background information obtained with morphological segmentation and inpainting. A multiresolution optimization scheme finding elliptic contours optimally adapted to a brightness model is then applied on the inpainted brightness image, under the constraint that a reasonable amount of vasculature must be present inside the disc. An effective objective function and a multiresolution scheme allow a deterministic optimizer to converge on the OD contour with good accuracy, while the vessel-based constraint limits wrong contour detections in anomalous cases. Our initial experiments (30 DRIVE images, ground truth from two doctors) suggest that the method can provide accurate results both in term of optic disc location and contour segmentation accuracy.