FDT‐Net: Frequency‐Aware Dual‐Branch Transformer‐Based Optic Cup and Optic Disk Segmentation With Parallel Contour Information Mining and Uncertainty‐Guided Refinement

Abstract

ABSTRACTAccurate segmentation of the optic cup and disc in fundus images is crucial for the prevention and diagnosis of glaucoma. However, challenges arise due to factors such as blood vessels, and mainstream networks often demonstrate limited capacity in extracting contour information. In this paper, we propose a segmentation framework named FDT‐Net, which is based on a frequency‐aware dual‐branch Transformer (FDBT) architecture with parallel contour information mining and uncertainty‐guided refinement. Specifically, we design a FDBT that operates in the frequency domain. This module leverages the inherent contextual awareness of Transformers and utilizes Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT) transformation to mitigate the impact of certain interference factors on segmentation. The FDBT comprises global and local branches that independently extract global and local information, thereby enhancing segmentation results. Moreover, to further mine additional contour information, this study develops the parallel contour information mining (PCIM) module to operate in parallel. These modules effectively capture more details from the edges of the optic cup and disc while avoiding mutual interference, thus optimizing segmentation performance in contour regions. Furthermore, we propose an uncertainty‐guided refinement (UGR) module, which generates and quantifies uncertainty mass and leverages it to enhance model performance based on subjective logic theory. The experimental results on two publicly available datasets demonstrate the superior performance and competitive advantages of our proposed FDT‐Net. The code for this project is available at https://github.com/Rookie49144/FDT‐Net.