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Collation of a Few Retinal Vessel Segmentation Techniques: Is the Problem Solved?

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Abstract

Morphological features of retinal blood vessels are used to diagnose and stage many ophthalmic disorders. Automated segmentation of retinal blood vessels can reduce the labor as well as the cost of the treatment process. Accurate segmentation around the optic disc, lesion area, vessel crossovers and bifurcations, handling central light reflex, and identification of minor vessels in the low contrast regions are some of the challenges faced in the robust segmentation of retinal vessels. Of these, some challenges have been addressed and some still need significant attention to be resolved. Although various techniques cater to different subsets of challenges, no single approach exists that has successfully addressed all the challenges. In this work we critically analyze six segmentation techniques, presenting their strengths and weaknesses. The advantage of this analysis is that the flaws in individual methods can be worked on to improve them individually and the strengths of different methods could be coupled to yield a more robust segmentation algorithm.

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Data availability

All the datasets used in this study are publicly available and can be accessed through the references provided in the manuscript.

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Acknowledgements

The authors sincerely thank the editor and the reviewers for their constructive comments to improve the quality of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mathematical Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology (BHU) Varanasi, Varanasi, 221005, Uttar Pradesh, India

    Varun Makkar, Arya Tewary & Rajesh K. Pandey

  2. Department of Electrical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Indore, Simrol, Indore, 453552, Madhya Pradesh, India

    Ram Bilas Pachori

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  1. Varun Makkar
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Contributions

Rajesh K. Pandey and Varun Makkar contributed to the conception and design of the study. The software and formal analysis were performed by Varun Makkar. The manuscript was written by Varun Makkar and Arya Tewary. Rajesh K. Pandey and Ram Bilas Pachori were involved in the overall supervision and methodology. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Varun Makkar or Rajesh K. Pandey.

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Makkar, V., Tewary, A., Pandey, R.K. et al. Collation of a Few Retinal Vessel Segmentation Techniques: Is the Problem Solved?. SN COMPUT. SCI. 6, 161 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42979-025-03722-x

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