Research Projects

The human eye is the second most vital and complex organ next to the brain. The retina and choroid, located at the back of the eye, are essential for vision. The retina absorbs light rays passing through the lens, converting them into neurochemical signals and sending them to the brain for further processing. The choroid is a layered structure that contains different layers such as the Haller Layer, Sattler, and Choriocapillaris Layers. Choroid contains blood vessels and connective tissue between the retina and sclera (the white part of the eye), choroid mainly supplies oxygen and nutrients to the outer retina and is vital to retinal health and function. Recently, imaging of the choroid has improved and with it, our understanding of its role in retinal disease is increasing exponentially. Parameters such as the thickness of the choroid, vascular, and stromal layers and their ratios (CVI) play a key role in the early recognition and understanding of several eye diseases. The noninvasive imaging technique Optical coherence tomography (OCT) with enhanced-depth imaging (EDI) enables deeper pathophysiological analysis of the choroidal regions. The proposed work aims to analyze the parameters above from OCT scans for the Indian population, which are obtained from different eye diseases from multivendor OCT machine scans obtained from multiple hospitals in India. Deep learning-based automatic segmentation methods will be developed to enhance and segment the choroidal layers from OCT scans. Choroidal parameters will be estimated from the segmented OCT scans. To the best of our knowledge, no prior work has been done in India, and no such automatic tool is available for clinical use around the world. Developed methods and curated datasets will be made public to promote research in this domain. A web application framework with developed methods will be made open-source for use in point-of-care clinics.