# ODFormer: Semantic Fundus Image Segmentation Using Transformer for Optic Nerve Head Detection

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2405.09552 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2405.09552/

## Key facts

- Cited by 1 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 24 of its 56 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 15 Apr 2024.

## Builds on (most cited first, 24 of 24)

- [Attention Is All You Need](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1706.03762/) (2017)
- [An Image is Worth 16x16 Words: Transformers for Image Recognition at Scale](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2010.11929/) (2020)
- [Swin Transformer: Hierarchical Vision Transformer using Shifted Windows](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2103.14030/) (2021)
- [Feature Pyramid Networks for Object Detection](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1612.03144/) (2016)
- [Fully Convolutional Networks for Semantic Segmentation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1411.4038/) (2014)
- [Encoder-Decoder with Atrous Separable Convolution for Semantic Image Segmentation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1802.02611/) (2018)
- [SegFormer: Simple and Efficient Design for Semantic Segmentation with Transformers](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2105.15203/) (2021)
- [Pyramid Scene Parsing Network](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1612.01105/) (2016)
- [Non-local Neural Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1711.07971/) (2017)
- [Rethinking Atrous Convolution for Semantic Image Segmentation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1706.05587/) (2017)
- [Unified Perceptual Parsing for Scene Understanding](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1807.10221/) (2018)
- [Dual Attention Network for Scene Segmentation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1809.02983/) (2018)
- [Segmenter: Transformer for Semantic Segmentation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2105.05633/) (2021)
- [A Survey on Visual Transformer](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2012.12556/) (2020)
- [Segmentation Transformer: Object-Contextual Representations for Semantic Segmentation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1909.11065/) (2019)
- [Twins: Revisiting the Design of Spatial Attention in Vision Transformers](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2104.13840/) (2021)
- [GCNet: Non-local Networks Meet Squeeze-Excitation Networks and Beyond](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1904.11492/) (2019)
- [UniFormer: Unifying Convolution and Self-attention for Visual Recognition](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2201.09450/) (2022)
- [Asymmetric Non-local Neural Networks for Semantic Segmentation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1908.07678/) (2019)
- [RoadFormer: Duplex Transformer for RGB-Normal Semantic Road Scene Parsing](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2309.10356/) (2023)
- [Playing to Vision Foundation Model's Strengths in Stereo Matching](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2404.06261/) (2024)
- [HAPNet: Toward Superior RGB-Thermal Scene Parsing via Hybrid, Asymmetric, and Progressive Heterogeneous Feature Fusion](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2404.03527/) (2024)
- [One-Vote Veto: Semi-Supervised Learning for Low-Shot Glaucoma Diagnosis](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2012.04841/) (2020)
- [UT-Net: Combining U-Net and Transformer for Joint Optic Disc and Cup Segmentation and Glaucoma Detection](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2303.04939/) (2023)

## Built on by (most cited first, 1 of 1)

- [Optic Disc Segmentation in Fundus Images: From Classical Image Processing and Deformable Models to Modern AI](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2608.18367/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Optic nerve head (ONH) detection has been a crucial area of study in ophthalmology for years. However, the significant discrepancy between fundus image datasets, each generated using a single type of fundus camera, poses challenges to the generalizability of ONH detection approaches developed based on semantic segmentation networks. Despite the numerous recent advancements in general-purpose semantic segmentation methods using convolutional neural networks (CNNs) and Transformers, there is currently a lack of benchmarks for these state-of-the-art (SoTA) networks specifically trained for ONH detection. Therefore, in this article, we make contributions from three key aspects: network design, the publication of a dataset, and the establishment of a comprehensive benchmark. Our newly developed ONH detection network, referred to as ODFormer, is based upon the Swin Transformer architecture and incorporates two novel components: a multi-scale context aggregator and a lightweight bidirectional feature recalibrator. Our published large-scale dataset, known as TongjiU-DROD, provides multi-resolution fundus images for each participant, captured using two distinct types of cameras. Our established benchmark involves three datasets: DRIONS-DB, DRISHTI-GS1, and TongjiU-DROD, created by researchers from different countries and containing fundus images captured from participants of diverse races and ages. Extensive experimental results demonstrate that our proposed ODFormer outperforms other state-of-the-art (SoTA) networks in terms of performance and generalizability. Our dataset and source code are publicly available at mias.group/ODFormer.
