An improved tortuosity measurement method combining curvature-based, breadth-first search and Euclidean distance for retinal image analysis.

ABSTRACT: Retinal vascular tortuosity is a clinically relevant biomarker linked to systemic and ocular diseases; however, its quantitative assessment particularly the distinction between arteries and veins remains underexplored in both healthy and pathological conditions. This study investigates tortuosity behavior using three publicly available retinal fundus image datasets: Digital Retinal Images for Vessel Extraction (DRIVE), High-Resolution Fundus (HRF), and Labelled Eye fundus Segmentation-Artery Vein (LES-AV). A standardized analytical pipeline combining curvature-based metrics, breadth-first search (BFS) and Euclidean distance was applied following vessel segmentation, artery-vein separation, skeletonization, and optic disc-based tracing. BFS algorithm was utilized for vessel path tracing, ch

SUBMITTER: Amir Hamzah NA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12786152 | biostudies-literature | 2026

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature