Retinal Vasculature Fractal Dimension Measures Vessel Density

Ab Hamid F 1 , Che Azemin MZ 1 , Salam A 2 , Aminuddin A 3 , Mohd Daud N 1 , Zahari I 1

Affiliations 

  • 1 a Department of Optometry & Visual Science, Kulliyyah of Allied Health Sciences , International Islamic University Malaysia , Bandar Indera Mahkota, Kuantan, Pahang , Malaysia
  • 2 b Department of Ophthalmology, Faculty of Medicine , International Islamic University Malaysia , Bandar Indera Mahkota, Kuantan, Pahang , Malaysia and
  • 3 c Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine , Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Jalan Yaacob Latif , Bandar Tun Razak, Cheras, Kuala Lumpur , Malaysia
Curr Eye Res, 2016 Jun;41(6):823-31.
PMID: 26268475 DOI: 10.3109/02713683.2015.1056375

Abstract

PURPOSE: The goal of this study was to provide the empirical evidence of fractal dimension as an indirect measure of retinal vasculature density.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: Two hundred retinal samples of right eye [57.0% females (n = 114) and 43.0% males (n = 86)] were selected from baseline visit. A custom-written software was used for vessel segmentation. Vessel segmentation is the process of transforming two-dimensional color images into binary images (i.e. black and white pixels). The circular area of approximately 2.6 optic disc radii surrounding the center of optic disc was cropped. The non-vessels fragments were removed. FracLac was used to measure the fractal dimension and vessel density of retinal vessels.

RESULTS: This study suggested that 14.1% of the region of interest (i.e. approximately 2.6 optic disk radii) comprised retinal vessel structure. Using correlation analysis, vessel density measurement and fractal dimension estimation are linearly and strongly correlated (R = 0.942, R(2) = 0.89, p 

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

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