Measurement of choroidal thickness on retina images by using image processing techniques

Medical imaging systems are among the fields where image processing is used at the highest level. With the help of image processing techniques, the diagnosis and treatment steps of diseases are resolved more easily. Efforts have been made to develop computer-assisted diagnosis systems for the retina area of the eye. In this thesis study, the purpose was to determine the required thickness of the choroid layer which is located in the macula in the venous part of the retina to diagnose the structural deficiencies and diseases by using image processing techniques. For this purpose, Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) Device was used; and filtering, enhancing, referral point detection, edge detection, segmentation and measurement processes were made on 30 (right and left eyes) color images taken from 15 participants. The software developed within the scope of the thesis automatically draws the sclera, retinal pigment epithelium and choroid edges on the incoming image and also draws the struts at the specified intervals on the right and left sides of the fovea in such a way that the fovea pit is the center of the desired interval, and makes the length measurements and area calculation. The measurement values that were computed were compared with the measurements of specialists and very high success rates were obtained.