“…It is evident that deep learning is a powerful tool in today's artificial intelligence-based tasks. Recently, one deep learning method, i.e., convolutional neural network (CNN), has produced impressive results in biomedical imaging and CAD systems, e.g., cancer, brain tumor, and retinopathy detection [139,140]. Since DR is a life-threatening disease and requires early diagnosis to control its prevalence in patients, computerized tools have proven to be effective in early DR assessment, however, a gap remains regarding fast and real time solutions for DR prediction.…”