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Identification of multiple ocular diseases using a hybrid quantum convolutional neural network with fundus images
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  • Published: 31 January 2026

Identification of multiple ocular diseases using a hybrid quantum convolutional neural network with fundus images

  • Ans Ibrahim Mahameed Alqassab1,2,
  • M.-Á. Luque-Nieto1,3 &
  • Mazin Abed Mohammed4,5 

Scientific Reports , Article number:  (2026) Cite this article

We are providing an unedited version of this manuscript to give early access to its findings. Before final publication, the manuscript will undergo further editing. Please note there may be errors present which affect the content, and all legal disclaimers apply.

Subjects

  • Computational biology and bioinformatics
  • Diseases
  • Engineering
  • Health care
  • Mathematics and computing
  • Medical research

Abstract

Ocular diseases remain a major cause of vision impairment globally, making early and accurate diagnosis essential. This study presents a novel diagnostic model for identifying seven common ocular conditions age-related macular degeneration, glaucoma, hypertension, diabetic retinopathy, myopia, cataracts, and other pathologies using clinical fundus images. To improve image quality, Anisotropic Diffusion Filtering and Wavelet Transform are applied for hue and contrast enhancement. Data imbalance is addressed through targeted augmentation techniques. The core of the model is a hybrid Quantum Convolutional Neural Network (QCNN), which integrates quantum convolutional pooling into a classical CNN architecture to boost feature extraction and classification. Evaluated on the OIA-ODIR dataset, the proposed model outperformed benchmarks such as Fundus-DeepNet, Inception-v4, VGG16 with SGD, and ResNet-101. It achieved 94% classification accuracy, along with substantial gains in precision, recall, and F1-score. These results confirm the model’s effectiveness and its potential for supporting early, multi-disease ocular diagnosis in clinical settings.

Data availability

Publicly available datasets are analyzed in this study. The data that support the findings of this study are available from ref. [18]. Other desired material can be requested to [alqassab@uma.es](mailto: alqassab@uma.es).

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Funding

This research was funded by a grant from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation through the project “NEMO4EX: heterogeNeous underwater nEtworks for collaborative, dynaMic, and cOst-effective Exploration” (PID2023-146540OB-C43).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Telecommunications Engineering School, University of Malaga, Málaga, 29010, Spain

    Ans Ibrahim Mahameed Alqassab & M.-Á. Luque-Nieto

  2. Tikrit University, Saladin Governorate, Tikrit, 34000, Iraq

    Ans Ibrahim Mahameed Alqassab

  3. Institute of Oceanic Engineering Research, University of Malaga, Málaga, 29010, Spain

    M.-Á. Luque-Nieto

  4. Department of Artificial Intelligence, College of Computer Science and Information Technology, University of Anbar, Anbar, 31001, Iraq

    Mazin Abed Mohammed

  5. Cybersecurity Department, College of Science, Al-Farabi University, Baghdad, 10022, Iraq

    Mazin Abed Mohammed

Authors
  1. Ans Ibrahim Mahameed Alqassab
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  2. M.-Á. Luque-Nieto
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  3. Mazin Abed Mohammed
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Contributions

Conceptualization, M.A.M.; methodology, M.A.M., A.I.M.A., and M.A.L.N.; modeling and simulation, A.I.M.A; validation, M.A.M., and A.I.M.A.; investigation, A.I.M.A.; resources, M.A.M. and M.A.L.N.; data curation, M.A.M and A.I.M.A.; writing—original draft preparation, A.I.M.A.; writing—review and editing, M.A.M., and M.A.L.N.; visualization, A.I.M.A.; supervision, M.A.M., and M.A.L.N.; project administration, M.A.L.N.; funding acquisition, M.A.L.N. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to M.-Á. Luque-Nieto.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Cite this article

Alqassab, A.I.M., Luque-Nieto, MÁ. & Mohammed, M.A. Identification of multiple ocular diseases using a hybrid quantum convolutional neural network with fundus images. Sci Rep (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-38063-z

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  • Received: 23 September 2025

  • Accepted: 28 January 2026

  • Published: 31 January 2026

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-38063-z

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Keywords

  • Fundus images
  • Ocular disease
  • Quantum convolutional neural network
  • OIA-ODIR dataset
  • Anisotropic diffusion filtering
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