# On the Uncertain Single-View Depths in Colonoscopies

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2112.08906 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2112.08906/

## Key facts

- Cited by 6 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 20 of its 39 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 16 Dec 2021.

## Builds on (most cited first, 20 of 20)

- [Dropout as a Bayesian Approximation: Representing Model Uncertainty in Deep Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1506.02142/) (2015)
- [Simple and Scalable Predictive Uncertainty Estimation using Deep Ensembles](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1612.01474/) (2016)
- [What Uncertainties Do We Need in Bayesian Deep Learning for Computer Vision?](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1703.04977/) (2017)
- [Depth Map Prediction from a Single Image using a Multi-Scale Deep Network](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1406.2283/) (2014)
- [Unsupervised Learning of Depth and Ego-Motion from Video](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1704.07813/) (2017)
- [Deep Ordinal Regression Network for Monocular Depth Estimation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1806.02446/) (2018)
- [Evaluating Scalable Bayesian Deep Learning Methods for Robust Computer Vision](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1906.01620/) (2019)
- [On the uncertainty of self-supervised monocular depth estimation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2005.06209/) (2020)
- [Unsupervised Learning of Monocular Depth Estimation and Visual Odometry with Deep Feature Reconstruction](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1803.03893/) (2018)
- [Uncertainty Estimates and Multi-Hypotheses Networks for Optical Flow](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1802.07095/) (2018)
- [Endo-Depth-and-Motion: Reconstruction and Tracking in Endoscopic Videos using Depth Networks and Photometric Constraints](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2103.16525/) (2021)
- [Unsupervised Reverse Domain Adaptation for Synthetic Medical Images via Adversarial Training](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1711.06606/) (2017)
- [Dense Depth Estimation in Monocular Endoscopy with Self-supervised Learning Methods](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1902.07766/) (2019)
- [Deep Learning and Conditional Random Fields-based Depth Estimation and Topographical Reconstruction from Conventional Endoscopy](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1710.11216/) (2017)
- [SLAM Endoscopy enhanced by adversarial depth prediction](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1907.00283/) (2019)
- [Self-Supervised Generative Adversarial Network for Depth Estimation in Laparoscopic Images](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2107.04644/) (2021)
- [Unsupervised Odometry and Depth Learning for Endoscopic Capsule Robots](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1803.01047/) (2018)
- [Detecting Deficient Coverage in Colonoscopies](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2001.08589/) (2020)
- [On the Sins of Image Synthesis Loss for Self-supervised Depth Estimation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2109.06163/) (2021)
- [Bayesian Deep Neural Networks for Supervised Learning of Single-View Depth](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2104.14202/) (2021)

## Built on by (most cited first, 6 of 6)

- [SimCol3D -- 3D Reconstruction during Colonoscopy Challenge](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2307.11261/) (2023)
- [LightDepth: Single-View Depth Self-Supervision from Illumination Decline](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2308.10525/) (2023)
- [Leveraging Near-Field Lighting for Monocular Depth Estimation from Endoscopy Videos](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2403.17915/) (2024)
- [SHADeS: Self-supervised Monocular Depth Estimation Through Non-Lambertian Image Decomposition](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2502.12994/) (2025)
- [3D Densification for Multi-Map Monocular VSLAM in Endoscopy](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2503.14346/) (2025)
- [Generalizing monocular colonoscopy image depth estimation by uncertainty-based global and local fusion network](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2409.15006/) (2024)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Estimating depth information from endoscopic images is a prerequisite for a wide set of AI-assisted technologies, such as accurate localization and measurement of tumors, or identification of non-inspected areas. As the domain specificity of colonoscopies -- deformable low-texture environments with fluids, poor lighting conditions and abrupt sensor motions -- pose challenges to multi-view 3D reconstructions, single-view depth learning stands out as a promising line of research. Depth learning can be extended in a Bayesian setting, which enables continual learning, improves decision making and can be used to compute confidence intervals or quantify uncertainty for in-body measurements. In this paper, we explore for the first time Bayesian deep networks for single-view depth estimation in colonoscopies. Our specific contribution is two-fold: 1) an exhaustive analysis of scalable Bayesian networks for depth learning in different datasets, highlighting challenges and conclusions regarding synthetic-to-real domain changes and supervised vs. self-supervised methods; and 2) a novel teacher-student approach to deep depth learning that takes into account the teacher uncertainty.