mlsanityData to 7 Oct 2026

The Swiss Army Knife for Image-to-Image Translation: Multi-Task Diffusion Models

arXiv 2204.02641 ↗First posted 6 Apr 2022cs.CVcited by 24

On the map: Diffusion models → Medical imaging and segmentation

Abstract (arXiv)

Recently, diffusion models were applied to a wide range of image analysis tasks. We build on a method for image-to-image translation using denoising diffusion implicit models and include a regression problem and a segmentation problem for guiding the image generation to the desired output. The main advantage of our approach is that the guidance during the denoising process is done by an external gradient. Consequently, the diffusion model does not need to be retrained for the different tasks on the same dataset. We apply our method to simulate the aging process on facial photos using a regression task, as well as on a brain magnetic resonance (MR) imaging dataset for the simulation of brain tumor growth. Furthermore, we use a segmentation model to inpaint tumors at the desired location in healthy slices of brain MR images. We achieve convincing results for all problems.

Key facts. Cited by 24 papers in the map (data through 7 Oct 2026). Placed in Medical imaging and segmentation, one of 14 directions in Diffusion models. Builds on 21 of its 27 references that are in the map. First posted on arXiv 6 Apr 2022.

Builds on

21 of 27 references.

Closest ancestors · 3

Same direction, newest first

  1. 2022Diffusion Models for Medical Anomaly Detection8 Mar
  2. 2021Diffusion Models for Implicit Image Segmentation Ensembles6 Dec
  3. 2021Label-Efficient Semantic Segmentation with Diffusion Models6 Dec

Other references · 18

  1. 2020Denoising Diffusion Probabilistic Modelscited by 20,851
  2. 2020Denoising Diffusion Implicit Modelscited by 9,655
  3. 2021Diffusion Models Beat GANs on Image Synthesiscited by 8,185
  4. 2022Generative Adversarial Networkscited by 5,603
  5. 2021Improved Denoising Diffusion Probabilistic Modelscited by 3,736
  6. 2021Palette: Image-to-Image Diffusion Modelscited by 1,296
  7. 2017StarGAN: Unified Generative Adversarial Networks for Multi-Domain Image-to-Image Translationcited by 1,036
  8. 2021ILVR: Conditioning Method for Denoising Diffusion Probabilistic Modelscited by 634
  9. 2018Identifying the Best Machine Learning Algorithms for Brain Tumor Segmentation, Progression Assessment, and Overall Survival Prediction in the BRATS Challengecited by 508
  10. 2021Diffusion Autoencoders: Toward a Meaningful and Decodable Representationcited by 447
  11. 2021Autoregressive Denoising Diffusion Models for Multivariate Probabilistic Time Series Forecastingcited by 332
  12. 2022Dual Diffusion Implicit Bridges for Image-to-Image Translationcited by 212
6 more
  1. 2021More Control for Free! Image Synthesis with Semantic Diffusion Guidancecited by 211
  2. 2021UNIT-DDPM: UNpaired Image Translation with Denoising Diffusion Probabilistic Modelscited by 133
  3. 2021Image-to-Image Translation: Methods and Applicationscited by 116
  4. 2020PFA-GAN: Progressive Face Aging with Generative Adversarial Networkcited by 19
  5. 2016Generalized Deep Image to Image Regressioncited by 14
  6. 2021Multiple Style Transfer via Variational AutoEncodercited by 9

Built on by

Cited by year (2026 to 7 Oct)

Citing papers per year: 2022: 4; 2023: 8; 2024: 7; 2025: 4; 2026: 1.

24 papers.

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  1. 2022Diffusion Models in Vision: A Surveycited by 1,008
  2. 2022Diffusion Models for Medical Image Analysis: A Comprehensive Surveycited by 269
  3. 2023Dif-Fusion: Towards High Color Fidelity in Infrared and Visible Image Fusion with Diffusion Modelscited by 56
  4. 2023Deep Learning Approaches for Data Augmentation in Medical Imaging: A Reviewcited by 48
  5. 2022Diff-Font: Diffusion Model for Robust One-Shot Font Generationcited by 40
  6. 2024Efficient Diffusion Models: A Comprehensive Survey from Principles to Practicescited by 39
  7. 2023IMPRESS: Evaluating the Resilience of Imperceptible Perturbations Against Unauthorized Data Usage in Diffusion-Based Generative AIcited by 32
  8. 2023Diffusion Models for Contrast Harmonization of Magnetic Resonance Imagescited by 19
  9. 2022Multitask Brain Tumor Inpainting with Diffusion Models: A Methodological Reportcited by 18
  10. 2023Denoising diffusion-based MRI to CT image translation enables automated spinal segmentationcited by 15
  11. 2023GD-VDM: Generated Depth for better Diffusion-based Video Generationcited by 13
  12. 2024DiffSal: Joint Audio and Video Learning for Diffusion Saliency Predictioncited by 13
12 more
  1. 2024StainDiffuser: MultiTask Dual Diffusion Model for Virtual Stainingcited by 11
  2. 2025Mitigating Hallucinations in Diffusion Models through Adaptive Attention Modulationcited by 11
  3. 2023DiffSketching: Sketch Control Image Synthesis with Diffusion Modelscited by 10
  4. 2025Bidirectional Diffusion Bridge Modelscited by 8
  5. 2024Noise Calibration: Plug-and-play Content-Preserving Video Enhancement using Pre-trained Video Diffusion Modelscited by 5
  6. 2024Modeling the Neonatal Brain Development Using Implicit Neural Representationscited by 3
  7. 2024Denoising Diffusion Models for Anomaly Localization in Medical Imagescited by 3
  8. 2025Mechanistic Learning with Guided Diffusion Models to Predict Spatio-Temporal Brain Tumor Growthcited by 3
  9. 2024VALD-MD: Visual Attribution via Latent Diffusion for Medical Diagnosticscited by 2
  10. 2026TumorFlow: Physics-Guided Longitudinal MRI Synthesis of Glioblastoma Growthcited by 2
  11. 2023TomatoDIFF: On-plant Tomato Segmentation with Denoising Diffusion Modelscited by 1
  12. 2025A Biophysically-Conditioned Generative Framework for 3D Brain Tumor MRI Synthesiscited by 0

Similar, not cited

Close in wording, no citation either way

  1. 2024Denoising Diffusion Models for Inpainting of Healthy Brain Tissue
  2. 2025A Diffusion Model Translator for Efficient Image-to-Image Translation
  3. 2024Self-Consistent Recursive Diffusion Bridge for Medical Image Translation
  4. 2023Memory-Efficient 3D Denoising Diffusion Models for Medical Image Processing
  5. 2025Lesion-Aware Post-Training of Latent Diffusion Models for Synthesizing Diffusion MRI from CT Perfusion
  6. 2024Diffusion-Based Image-to-Image Translation by Noise Correction via Prompt Interpolation
  7. 2026Diffusion Models in Medical Image Inpainting: Challenges, Solution Taxonomy, and Future Directions
  8. 2025Plasticine: A Traceable Diffusion Model for Medical Image Translation