Dual-parabolic modeling of the superior and the inferior temporal arcades in fundus images of the retina

Monitoring the openness of the inferior and the superior temporal arcades (ITA and STA) in retinal fundus images and how they change over time can facilitate improved diagnosis and optimized treatment of myopia and retinopathy of prematurity. We propose methods for the detection and modeling of the ITA and the STA, including Gabor filters to detect retinal vessels, and the generalized Hough transform to detect and parameterize semi-parabolic forms. Results obtained with 40 images of the DRIVE database, compared with traces of the temporal arcade drawn by an expert ophthalmologist, indicate a low mean distance to the closest point error of 12.33 pixels (0.25 mm). The proposed methods should facilitate quantitative analysis of the ITA and the STA and overcome limitations associated with subjective manual analysis.