# Validating polyp and instrument segmentation methods in colonoscopy through Medico 2020 and MedAI 2021 Challenges

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2307.16262 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2307.16262/

## Key facts

- Cited by 3 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 33 of its 84 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 30 Jul 2023.

## Builds on (most cited first, 30 of 33)

- [Deep Residual Learning for Image Recognition](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1512.03385/) (2015)
- [U-Net: Convolutional Networks for Biomedical Image Segmentation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1505.04597/) (2015)
- [Mask R-CNN](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1703.06870/) (2017)
- [A Unified Approach to Interpreting Model Predictions](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1705.07874/) (2017)
- [Feature Pyramid Networks for Object Detection](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1612.03144/) (2016)
- [Encoder-Decoder with Atrous Separable Convolution for Semantic Image Segmentation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1802.02611/) (2018)
- [Attention U-Net: Learning Where to Look for the Pancreas](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1804.03999/) (2018)
- [Sharpness-Aware Minimization for Efficiently Improving Generalization](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2010.01412/) (2020)
- [Big Transfer (BiT): General Visual Representation Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1912.11370/) (2019)
- [PVT v2: Improved Baselines with Pyramid Vision Transformer](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2106.13797/) (2021)
- [Kvasir-SEG: A Segmented Polyp Dataset](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1911.07069/) (2019)
- [PraNet: Parallel Reverse Attention Network for Polyp Segmentation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2006.11392/) (2020)
- [Cascade R-CNN: High Quality Object Detection and Instance Segmentation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1906.09756/) (2019)
- [U2-Net: Going Deeper with Nested U-Structure for Salient Object Detection](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2005.09007/) (2020)
- [TransFuse: Fusing Transformers and CNNs for Medical Image Segmentation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2102.08005/) (2021)
- [Concealed Object Detection](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2102.10274/) (2021)
- [ResUNet++: An Advanced Architecture for Medical Image Segmentation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1911.07067/) (2019)
- [Polyp-PVT: Polyp Segmentation with Pyramid Vision Transformers](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2108.06932/) (2021)
- [HarDNet: A Low Memory Traffic Network](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1909.00948/) (2019)
- [HarDNet-MSEG: A Simple Encoder-Decoder Polyp Segmentation Neural Network that Achieves over 0.9 Mean Dice and 86 FPS](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2101.07172/) (2021)
- [A multi-centre polyp detection and segmentation dataset for generalisability assessment](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2106.04463/) (2021)
- [Kvasir-Instrument: Diagnostic and therapeutic tool segmentation dataset in gastrointestinal endoscopy](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2011.08065/) (2020)
- [FANet: A Feedback Attention Network for Improved Biomedical Image Segmentation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2103.17235/) (2021)
- [DDANet: Dual Decoder Attention Network for Automatic Polyp Segmentation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2012.15245/) (2020)
- [Assessing generalisability of deep learning-based polyp detection and segmentation methods through a computer vision challenge](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2202.12031/) (2022)
- [Medico Multimedia Task at MediaEval 2020: Automatic Polyp Segmentation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2012.15244/) (2020)
- [Generative Adversarial Networks for Automatic Polyp Segmentation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2012.06771/) (2020)
- [Automatic Polyp Segmentation using U-Net-ResNet50](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2012.15247/) (2020)
- [Pyramid-Focus-Augmentation: Medical Image Segmentation with Step-Wise Focus](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2012.07430/) (2020)
- [Explainable Medical Image Segmentation via Generative Adversarial Networks and Layer-wise Relevance Propagation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2111.01665/) (2021)

## Built on by (most cited first, 3 of 3)

- [SegCol Challenge: Semantic Segmentation for Tools and Fold Edges in Colonoscopy data](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2412.16078/) (2024)
- [Improved Segmentation of Polyps and Visual Explainability Analysis](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2509.18159/) (2025)
- [TreeNet: Layered Decision Ensembles](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2510.09654/) (2025)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Automatic analysis of colonoscopy images has been an active field of research motivated by the importance of early detection of precancerous polyps. However, detecting polyps during the live examination can be challenging due to various factors such as variation of skills and experience among the endoscopists, lack of attentiveness, and fatigue leading to a high polyp miss-rate. Deep learning has emerged as a promising solution to this challenge as it can assist endoscopists in detecting and classifying overlooked polyps and abnormalities in real time. In addition to the algorithm's accuracy, transparency and interpretability are crucial to explaining the whys and hows of the algorithm's prediction. Further, most algorithms are developed in private data, closed source, or proprietary software, and methods lack reproducibility. Therefore, to promote the development of efficient and transparent methods, we have organized the "Medico automatic polyp segmentation (Medico 2020)" and "MedAI: Transparency in Medical Image Segmentation (MedAI 2021)" competitions. We present a comprehensive summary and analyze each contribution, highlight the strength of the best-performing methods, and discuss the possibility of clinical translations of such methods into the clinic. For the transparency task, a multi-disciplinary team, including expert gastroenterologists, accessed each submission and evaluated the team based on open-source practices, failure case analysis, ablation studies, usability and understandability of evaluations to gain a deeper understanding of the models' credibility for clinical deployment. Through the comprehensive analysis of the challenge, we not only highlight the advancements in polyp and surgical instrument segmentation but also encourage qualitative evaluation for building more transparent and understandable AI-based colonoscopy systems.