An operative quantitative analysis of multispectral images of the eyeground

Abstract

In the approximation of a four-layer model of the eyeground, we have studied the information content of photographs of the eyeground obtained in different spectral intervals from the visible range of the spectrum. We have shown that, under conditions of a priori uncertainty of all parameters of the eyeground that affect spectral fluxes of light multiply scattered by the eyeground, the two-dimensional distributions of the following parameters can be determined: (i) the contents of hemoglobin and macular pigment in the retina; (ii) the contents of melanin in the pigment epithelium and choroid; (iii) the degree of blood oxygenation; and (iv) the structural parameter of the retina, which characterizes the volume concentration of its effective scatterers. Based on results of a numerical simulation of the light-transfer process in the medium under study, we have determined regression relationships between parameters of the eyeground and spectral characteristics of its image and have proposed a method for the operative retrieval of parameter maps of the eyeground, which uses the determined regressions.