# Gaussian Pancakes: Geometrically-Regularized 3D Gaussian Splatting for Realistic Endoscopic Reconstruction

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2404.06128 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2404.06128/

## Key facts

- Cited by 19 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 12 of its 28 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 9 Apr 2024.

## Builds on (most cited first, 12 of 12)

- [Adam: A Method for Stochastic Optimization](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1412.6980/) (2014)
- [The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Deep Features as a Perceptual Metric](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1801.03924/) (2018)
- [3D Gaussian Splatting for Real-Time Radiance Field Rendering](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2308.04079/) (2023)
- [Billion-scale similarity search with GPUs](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1702.08734/) (2017)
- [Mip-NeRF 360: Unbounded Anti-Aliased Neural Radiance Fields](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2111.12077/) (2021)
- [NeuS: Learning Neural Implicit Surfaces by Volume Rendering for Multi-view Reconstruction](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2106.10689/) (2021)
- [A Survey on 3D Gaussian Splatting](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2401.03890/) (2024)
- [Depth-Regularized Optimization for 3D Gaussian Splatting in Few-Shot Images](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2311.13398/) (2023)
- [Vision-Only Robot Navigation in a Neural Radiance World](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2110.00168/) (2021)
- [Colonoscopy 3D Video Dataset with Paired Depth from 2D-3D Registration](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2206.08903/) (2022)
- [LightNeuS: Neural Surface Reconstruction in Endoscopy using Illumination Decline](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2309.02777/) (2023)
- [SimCol3D -- 3D Reconstruction during Colonoscopy Challenge](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2307.11261/) (2023)

## Built on by (most cited first, 19 of 19)

- [Advancing Extended Reality with 3D Gaussian Splatting: Innovations and Prospects](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2412.06257/) (2024)
- [C3VDv2 -- Colonoscopy 3D video dataset with enhanced realism](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2506.24074/) (2025)
- [PR-ENDO: Physically Based Relightable Gaussian Splatting for Endoscopy](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2411.12510/) (2024)
- [3D Densification for Multi-Map Monocular VSLAM in Endoscopy](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2503.14346/) (2025)
- [InnerGS: Internal Scenes Reconstruction and Segmentation via Factorized 3D Gaussian Splatting](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2508.13287/) (2025)
- [ColonSplat: Reconstruction of Peristaltic Motion in Colonoscopy with Dynamic Gaussian Splatting](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2603.06860/) (2026)
- [EndoPBR: Material and Lighting Estimation for Photorealistic Surgical Simulations via Physically-based Rendering](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2502.20669/) (2025)
- [GeoSplat: A Deep Dive into Geometry-Constrained Gaussian Splatting](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2509.05075/) (2025)
- [Moving Light Adaptive Colonoscopy Reconstruction via Illumination-Attenuation-Aware 3D Gaussian Splatting](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2510.18739/) (2025)
- [4D Monocular Surgical Reconstruction under Arbitrary Camera Motions](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2602.17473/) (2026)
- [DepthPilot: From Controllability to Interpretability in Colonoscopy Video Generation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2604.26232/) (2026)
- [NeeCo: Image Synthesis of Novel Instrument States Based on Dynamic and Deformable 3D Gaussian Reconstruction](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2508.07897/) (2025)
- [Understanding Model Behavior in Monocular Polyp Sizing](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2605.20461/) (2026)
- [Learning Representations from 3D Gaussian Splats](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2605.29549/) (2026)
- [C3VD-DEFCOL: A Deformable Colonoscopy Dataset with Time-Resolved 3D Ground Truth and Realistic Appearance](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2606.07891/) (2026)
- [Gastroendoscopy View Synthesis: A New Real Dataset and Evaluation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2606.25427/) (2026)
- [Rendering Novel Views of MRI Using 3D Gaussian Splatting](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2606.26236/) (2026)
- [Track2Map: Online Deformable SLAM with Motion-Aware Pose Optimization in Robotic Surgery](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2607.08408/) (2026)
- [ExtraGS: Enhancing Endoscopic View Extrapolation via Diffusion-Guided 3D Gaussian Splatting](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2607.12785/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Within colorectal cancer diagnostics, conventional colonoscopy techniques face critical limitations, including a limited field of view and a lack of depth information, which can impede the detection of precancerous lesions. Current methods struggle to provide comprehensive and accurate 3D reconstructions of the colonic surface which can help minimize the missing regions and reinspection for pre-cancerous polyps. Addressing this, we introduce 'Gaussian Pancakes', a method that leverages 3D Gaussian Splatting (3D GS) combined with a Recurrent Neural Network-based Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (RNNSLAM) system. By introducing geometric and depth regularization into the 3D GS framework, our approach ensures more accurate alignment of Gaussians with the colon surface, resulting in smoother 3D reconstructions with novel viewing of detailed textures and structures. Evaluations across three diverse datasets show that Gaussian Pancakes enhances novel view synthesis quality, surpassing current leading methods with a 18% boost in PSNR and a 16% improvement in SSIM. It also delivers over 100X faster rendering and more than 10X shorter training times, making it a practical tool for real-time applications. Hence, this holds promise for achieving clinical translation for better detection and diagnosis of colorectal cancer.