Optic disc detection is an important task in retinal imaging as its significance justifies whether the retina is normal or abnormal. The optic disc represents the entrance and exit sites of vascular and nervous structures, and its size and shape could be used in diagnostics and treatment of diseases, such as glaucoma. Several approaches have been proposed, the majority of which use intensity or shape based techniques. Recently, approaches that combine intensity, shape and information regarding vascular structures have been used with good results. In this paper, a method that combines information from the major blood vessels is investigated and compared with intensity and shape based techniques. The image that is employed to evaluate the proposed technique consists of both healthy and unhealthy retinas. The techniques used in this contribution result to a robust, fast and accurate technique for detection of the optic disc.
