Fractal and multifractal analysis of two dimensional images of the retinopathy of prematurity: Morphologic parameters and classification

Retinopathy of prematurity is a disease caused by abnormal vessel regression of the retinal vasculature that affects premature infants with low birth weights. This paper explores the possibility of applying the concept of fractal analysis to images of retinal blood vessels for morphometric analysis and classification. More than 100 neonates were screening with RetCam 3 device by the experienced ophthalmologist who chose 101 suitable images and set them into three groups, according to the presence of the ROP and the stage of ROP development. Black and white binary images were carried out by box dimension quantifying the space-filling, shape and tortuosity of retinal blood vessels. Accordingly, grey-scale images were investigated by the lacunar and multifractal analysis, which quantifies heterogeneity and multifractal spectra, respectively.