# Paired Diffusion: Generation of related, synthetic PET-CT-Segmentation scans using Linked Denoising Diffusion Probabilistic Models

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2403.17734 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2403.17734/

## Key facts

- Cited by 2 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Placed in Medical imaging and segmentation, one of 14 directions in Diffusion models.
- Builds on 7 of its 17 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 26 Mar 2024.

## Placed in

- Diffusion models / [Medical imaging and segmentation](https://mlsanity.com/diffusion/medical-imaging-and-segmentation/)

## Builds on (most cited first, 7 of 7)

- [Denoising Diffusion Probabilistic Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2006.11239/) (2020)
- [DPM-Solver: A Fast ODE Solver for Diffusion Probabilistic Model Sampling in Around 10 Steps](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2206.00927/) (2022)
- [MedSegDiff: Medical Image Segmentation with Diffusion Probabilistic Model](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2211.00611/) (2022)
- [Medical Diffusion: Denoising Diffusion Probabilistic Models for 3D Medical Image Generation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2211.03364/) (2022)
- [Brain tumor segmentation using synthetic MR images -- A comparison of GANs and diffusion models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2306.02986/) (2023)
- [Multimodal PET/CT Tumour Segmentation and Prediction of Progression-Free Survival using a Full-Scale UNet with Attention](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2111.03848/) (2021)
- [Denoising Diffusion Medical Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2304.09383/) (2023)

## Built on by (most cited first, 2 of 2)

- [Deformation-Recovery Diffusion Model (DRDM): Instance Deformation for Image Manipulation and Synthesis](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2407.07295/) (2024)
- [Exploring the Effectiveness of Deep Features from Domain-Specific Foundation Models in Retinal Image Synthesis](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2506.11753/) (2025)

## Abstract (arXiv)

The rapid advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in biomedical imaging and radiotherapy is hindered by the limited availability of large imaging data repositories. With recent research and improvements in denoising diffusion probabilistic models (DDPM), high quality synthetic medical scans are now possible. Despite this, there is currently no way of generating multiple related images, such as a corresponding ground truth which can be used to train models, so synthetic scans are often manually annotated before use. This research introduces a novel architecture that is able to generate multiple, related PET-CT-tumour mask pairs using paired networks and conditional encoders. Our approach includes innovative, time step-controlled mechanisms and a `noise-seeding' strategy to improve DDPM sampling consistency. While our model requires a modified perceptual loss function to ensure accurate feature alignment we show generation of clearly aligned synthetic images and improvement in segmentation accuracy with generated images.