  Many algorithms have been proposed to help clinicians evaluate cone density
and spacing, as these may be related to the onset of retinal diseases. However,
there has been no rigorous comparison of the performance of these algorithms.
In addition, the performance of such algorithms is typically determined by
comparison with human observers. Here we propose a technique to simulate
realistic images of the cone mosaic. We use the simulated images to test the
performance of two popular cone detection algorithms and we introduce an
algorithm which is used by astronomers to detect stars in astronomical images.
We use Free Response Operating Characteristic (FROC) curves to evaluate and
compare the performance of the three algorithms. This allows us to optimize the
performance of each algorithm. We observe that performance is significantly
enhanced by up-sampling the images. We investigate the effect of noise and
image quality on cone mosaic parameters estimated using the different
algorithms, finding that the estimated regularity is the most sensitive
parameter.
  This paper was published in JOSA A and is made available as an electronic
reprint with the permission of OSA. The paper can be found at the following URL
on the OSA website: http://www.opticsinfobase.org/abstract.cfm?msid=224577.
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