Optic cup segmentation of stereo retinal fundus images using virtual reality

Glaucoma is one of the world leading causes of irreversible blindness. Early detection is essential to delay its progression and prevent vision loss. An accurate segmentation of the cup region in retinal fundus images is necessary to obtain relevant measurements for the detection of glaucoma. In recent years, multiple methods have been developed to automatically detect this region. All these methods are adjusted or trained using images that had been previously segmented by experts. In order to aid clinicians in performing this task, an interactive tool for the segmentation of the optic cup in stereo retinal fundus images using virtual reality has been developed. By using stereo images, the implemented virtual reality environment allows users to naturally perceive the three–dimensional structure of the optic cup region, which eases its segmentation compared to monocular images. The usage of the presented application was observed to increase accuracy of the delimitation, compared to using only two–dimensional fundus images, especially on areas with blood vessels.