Fundus Image Quality Assessment and Enhancement: a Systematic Review

TL;DR

This systematic review analyzes the current state of fundus image quality assessment and enhancement, highlighting research advancements, practical challenges, and future directions to improve clinical reliability in resource-limited settings.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of fundus IQA and IQE algorithms, their interplay, and deployment challenges, filling a gap in existing literature.

Findings

Summarizes paradigms in fundus IQA and IQE

Identifies practical deployment challenges

Suggests future research directions

Abstract

As an affordable and convenient eye scan, fundus photography holds the potential for preventing vision impairment, especially in resource-limited regions. However, fundus image degradation is common under intricate imaging environments, impacting following diagnosis and treatment. Consequently, image quality assessment (IQA) and enhancement (IQE) are essential for ensuring the clinical value and reliability of fundus images. While existing reviews offer some overview of this field, a comprehensive analysis of the interplay between IQA and IQE, along with their clinical deployment challenges, is lacking. This paper addresses this gap by providing a thorough review of fundus IQA and IQE algorithms, research advancements, and practical applications. We outline the fundamentals of the fundus photography imaging system and the associated interferences, and then systematically summarize the paradigms in fundus IQA and IQE. Furthermore, we discuss the practical challenges and solutions in deploying IQA and IQE, as well as offer insights into potential future research directions.