Novel full-automatic approach for segmentation of epiretinal membrane from 3D OCT images

The scientific objective of the research presented in this paper was to develop a new OCT-based method for investigation of epiretinal membrane (ERM) pathology in human eyes. We propose a new approach for the automatic assessment of the ERM thickness and the space between the ERM and the retina surface. The experiments were conducted using volumetric data acquired from a set of patients with ERM. OCT cross-sections were processed frame-by-frame. The utilized advanced digital imaging algorithms included anisotropic diffusion method for denoising, graph analysis approach for ERM surface segmentation, and region growing and thresholding technique for under-ERM space segmentation. We were able to segment and quantify ERMs in all subjects with good precision. The calculated information is presented in the form of depth maps.