Detection of optic disc in human retinal images utilizing the Bitterling Fish Optimization (BFO) algorithm

Early detection and correct identification of the optic disc (OD) on scanned retinal images are significant for diagnosing and treating several ophthalmic conditions, including glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy. Conventional methods for detecting the OD often struggle with processing retinal images due to noise, changes in illumination, and complex overlapping images. This study presents the development of effective and accurate fixation of the optic disc using the Bitterling Fish Optimization (BFO) algorithm, which enhances the processes of OD imaging in speed and precision. The proposed method begins with image enhancement and noise suppression for preprocessing, followed by applying the BFO algorithm to locate and delineate the OD region. The performance evaluation of the algorithm was conducted within several public domain retinal images, including DRIVE, STARE, ORIGA, DRISHTI-GS, DiaRetDB0, and DiaRetDB1 datasets about some internal metrics: sensitivity (SE), specificity (SP), accuracy (ACC), DICE overlap coefficient, overlap and time of processing respectively. The technique based on BFO provided better results, with 99.33%, 99.94%, and 98.22% accuracy achieved for OD in DRIVE, DRISHTI-GS, and DiaRetDB 1, respectively. The approach also demonstrated high overlaps and good DICE results, with a DICE coefficient of 0.9501 for the DRISHTI-GS database. On average, the processing time per image was less than 2.5 s, proving the approach's efficiency in computations. The BFO approach has demonstrated its effectiveness and scalability in detecting optic discs in retinal images in an automated manner. It showed impressive performance levels in terms of computation time and accuracy and was variation resistant irrespective of the quality of the image and the pathology present on it. This method holds significant potential for clinical use, providing a meaningful way of diagnosing and managing ocular disease at an early stage.