Images of abnormalities of retina images obtained from the prototype database and the regions of interest (ROI)
extracted are depicted in Fig. 3 to Fig. 8. In addition to Fuzzy C- Means, morphological operations were performed
to remove the optic disc for hard exudates extraction as shown in Fig. 3. For candidate images, the same image
processing procedures are followed to obtain ROI. Fig. 3 to Fig. 6 contains images of DR while Fig. 7 and F8 depict
images of AMD. One of the earliest manifestations of DR is MA which appears as red spots as seen in Fig. 6. Blood
vessels also appear in Fig. 6 which can be removed using morphological operations. In the next stage, there is a
leakage of lipid proteins from the blood vessels leading to hard exudates which are round and yellowish in colour
(see Fig. 3). The optic disk is also a yellow disk which is removed through morphological operations. Soft exudates
or cotton wool spots appear as fluffy white deposits (Fig. 4) also occur during non proliferative DR. Haemorrhages
or blood leakage (Fig. 5) occur during the advanced stages which become very severe during the proliferative phase
of DR. AMD is initially manifested as the more prevalent form of dry AMD when yellowish deposits know as
drusen (Fig. 8) are seen near the macula. Additional blood clots/haemorrhaging is observed in the more severe wet
type of AMD (Fig. 7). Prototype images with the above mentioned manifestation are