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A novel diabetic retinopathy detection from fundus images using hybrid quantum convolutional neural network models
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  • Published: 05 May 2026

A novel diabetic retinopathy detection from fundus images using hybrid quantum convolutional neural network models

  • S. R. Menaka1,
  • Suresh Muthusamy  ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-9156-20542,
  • Prabhjot Kaur Sidhu  ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-0496-27443,
  • Abhinandan Routray  ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-2360-12424,
  • G. Uma Maheswari5 &
  • …
  • Nebojsa Bacanin  ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-2062-924X6,7 

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

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Subjects

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

Abstract

Diabetic retinopathy (DR) diagnosis from digital fundus images is a long-standing topic of research in medical image processing. The determination of optic disk boundaries in two-dimensional retinal images is difficult due to blurred edges, which makes this field in need of improvement. All these problems cannot be solved by a single technique. An efficient algorithm for identifying DR-related retinal changes and structure is still needed. If DR is recognized and treated in a timely manner, visual deterioration can be managed or avoided. It is based on telemedicine analysis of color fundus pictures or clinical evaluations by medical doctors. However, due to intrinsic human subjectivity, both systems are time-consuming, labor-intensive, and prone to inaccuracy. Due to their great specificity and sensitivity, automated methods capable of analyzing color fundus pictures have become important for the general deployment of DR screening. To study the existence of DR-related characteristics and to cope with the various diabetes severity diagnosis phases, a hybrid quantum convolutional neural network (HQCNN) is presented. Kaggle fundus images database is utilized to test and train the network. Finally, the presented work is compared for analyzing efficiency using the system of measurement like precision, specificity, accuracy, sensitivity, and f1 score. The proposed work obtains accuracy of 98.89%, sensitivity of 99.37%, specificity of 99.57%, precision of 98.89%, and F1 score of 97.58%.

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Funding

Open access funding provided by Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Information Technology, K.S.R. College of Engineering (Autonomous), Tiruchengode, Namakkal, Tamil Nadu, India

    S. R. Menaka

  2. Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Kongu Engineering College (Autonomous), Perundurai, Erode, Tamil Nadu, India

    Suresh Muthusamy

  3. Department of Information Technology, Maharaja Surajmal Institute of Technology, Affiliated to GGSIP University, Janakpuri, New Delhi, India

    Prabhjot Kaur Sidhu

  4. Manipal Institute of Technology, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, India

    Abhinandan Routray

  5. Department of Computer Science and Engineering, RMK College of Engineering and Technology, Puduvoyal, Thiruvallur, Tamil Nadu, India

    G. Uma Maheswari

  6. Faculty of Informatics and Computing, Singidunum University, Danijelova 32, Belgrade 11000, Serbia, Danijelova 32, Belgrade 11000, Serbia

    Nebojsa Bacanin

  7. Department of Mathematics, Saveetha School of Engineering, SIMATS Thandalam, Tamilnadu, 602105, Chennai, India

    Nebojsa Bacanin

Authors
  1. S. R. Menaka
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  2. Suresh Muthusamy
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  3. Prabhjot Kaur Sidhu
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  4. Abhinandan Routray
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  5. G. Uma Maheswari
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  6. Nebojsa Bacanin
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Abhinandan Routray.

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Cite this article

Menaka, S.R., Muthusamy, S., Sidhu, P.K. et al. A novel diabetic retinopathy detection from fundus images using hybrid quantum convolutional neural network models. Sci Rep (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-49227-2

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  • Received: 17 October 2025

  • Accepted: 13 April 2026

  • Published: 05 May 2026

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-49227-2

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Keywords

  • Diabetic retinopathy
  • Fundus images
  • Quantum computing
  • CNN
  • Retina
  • Image processing
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