Glaucoma detection model by exploiting multi-region and multi-scan-pattern OCT images with dynamical region score

Abstract

Currently, deep learning-based methods have achieved success in glaucoma detection. However, most models focus on OCT images captured by a single scan pattern within a given region, holding the high risk of the omission of valuable features in the remaining regions or scan patterns. Therefore, we proposed a multi-region and multi-scan-pattern fusion model to address this issue. Our proposed model exploits comprehensive OCT images from three fundus anatomical regions (macular, middle, and optic nerve head regions) being captured by four scan patterns (radial, volume, single-line, and circular scan patterns). Moreover, to enhance the efficacy of integrating features across various scan patterns within a region and multiple regional features, we employed an attention multi-scan fusion module and an attention multi-region fusion module that auto-assign contribution to distinct scan-pattern features and region features adapting to characters of different samples, respectively. To alleviate the absence of available datasets, we have collected a specific dataset (MRMSG-OCT) comprising OCT images captured by four scan patterns from three regions. The experimental results and visualized feature maps both demonstrate that our proposed model achieves superior performance against the single scan-pattern models and single region-based models. Moreover, compared with the average fusion strategy, our proposed fusion modules yield superior performance, particularly reversing the performance degradation observed in some models relying on fixed weights, validating the efficacy of the proposed dynamic region scores adapted to different samples. Moreover, the derived region contribution scores enhance the interpretability of the model and offer an overview of the model’s decision-making process, assisting ophthalmologists in prioritizing regions with heightened scores and increasing efficiency in clinical practice.