Automatic Detection of Age-related Macular Degeneration from Retinal Images

Macular degeneration is one of the most common retinal diseases in India. Usually it is observed in people over 60s and is therefore called age related macular degeneration, ARMD or AMD. The macula is responsible for the sharp central vision needed for detailed activities such as reading, writing, driving, face recognition and ability to see colours. Age related macula degeneration is degeneration of the macula area and the delicate cells of the macula become inactive and stop working. Unfortunately, age-related macula degeneration cannot be completely cured, but if diagnosed at an early stage degeneration laser treatment can help some people to prevent further deterioration of macula. The authors have developed a novel algorithm for automatic detection of AMD using image processing techniques. The algorithm locates disease affected pixels on macula and evaluates the degenerated area on the macula. Lab View software is used to implement the algorithm. After pre-processing particle analysis tool is applied to locate and measure the area of the degenerated region in macula. Keywords— Age related macular degeneration, morphology, green plane extraction, particle analysis technique.