Announcing the MICCAI 2026 FIDO Challenge: Multimodal AI in Ophthalmic Surgery
The organizers and supporting partners of the MICCAI 2026 FIDO Challenge
The Organizers & The Mission
Organized and funded by SynthesEyes GmbH and ZEISS (Carl Zeiss Meditec AG), the FIDO Challenge aims to drive innovation in multimodal AI-driven decision-support systems. Currently, surgical systems typically rely on either a wide-field fundus microscope image or high-resolution intraoperative Optical Coherence Tomography (iOCT) independently. To bridge this gap, SynthesEyes and Carl Zeiss Meditec AG are releasing a first-of-its-kind, highly specialized synthetic dataset to power real-time, multimodal data fusion.
Participants will tackle two primary tracks:
- Task 1: Surgical Instrument Keypoints Spatial Localisation (Extending conventional 2D keypoint detection into pseudo-3D spatial localization and tool-tissue distance estimation leveraging both modalities).
- Task 2: Intraoperative OCT to Fundus Registration (Accurate 3D-to-2D spatial alignment of volumetric iOCT data with 2D microscope fundus images).
A Thematic Day on Ophthalmology
The FIDO Challenge will be a part in the thematic day on Ophthalmology at MICCAI 2026. We are excited to hold the event in conjunction with the 13th Ophthalmic Medical Image Analysis Workshop (OMIA13) and GAVE challenge. OMIA13 will encompass a broad range of topics in ophthalmic image analysis, including retinal biomarker discovery, multimodal imaging, and the application of advanced computer vision and machine learning techniques. The workshop will also address key challenges such as improving accuracy, ensuring reliability and robust validation, and accounting for the wide diversity of ocular conditions.
Event Highlights
Beyond the competition, the challenge day is designed to foster deep, multidisciplinary collaboration. The event will feature:
- Exclusive Keynotes by leading minds in the field, including Prof. Nassir Navab and expert retina surgeon Dr. Koorosh Faridpooya.
- A Complementary Panel Discussion bringing together thought leaders across industry, academia, and clinical practice to debate the future of multimodal imaging and decision-support systems in the operating room.
Important Dates & Submissions
- Dataset Release: Mid. May, 2026.
- Submission Details: Through Codabench.
- Challenge Event: October 1st.
Stay tuned for more updates on the official challenge website, to learn how you can participate and access the dataset.
Schedule Update & Final Phase Notice
To give participating teams ample time to refine and optimize their submissions, we have updated the timeline for the FIDO 2026 Challenge!
Updated Key Dates & Final Phase Setup
- Public Leaderboard Phase (Active through August 20th): Keep submitting and benchmarking your models on Codabench! Use this open phase to track your real-time rankings and compare results against other teams.
- Final Evaluation Phase (August 21st – September 4th): The leaderboard will pause public score updates! Use this two-week window to fine-tune your individual models and finalize your bundled submissions ahead of the final review.
Still need to register?
Join Us at MICCAI 2026
We invite you to join us on October 1st in Strasbourg for a dedicated Thematic Day on Ophthalmology, organized together with the OMIA Workshop and the GAVE2 Challenge.
- Date: Thursday, October 1, 2026 (Day 5)
- Location: Room Londres 1 (G)
- Program Highlights: Inspiring keynotes, interactive panel discussions, top-performing team presentations, and valuable networking bringing together clinicians, researchers, and industry leaders.
Organizers
- Shervin Dehghani
- Michael Sommersperger
- Christian Kungel
- Ghazal Ghazaei
- Hendrik Burwinkel
- Koorosh Faridpooya
- Nassir Navab