Computer-assisted microaneurysm turnover in the early stages of diabetic retinopathy.

Purpose: To assess the reliability of microaneurysm turnover, computed from color fundus photographs, in evaluating diabetic retinopathy in patients with type 2 diabetes and nonproliferative retinopathy.

Methods: A new method (MA-Tracker) was developed to count microaneurysms by mapping their locations through image co-registration. To compute the reliability of microaneurysm turnover, 3 different graders were asked to earmark microaneurysms on the same set of color fundus photographs.