# PASTA: Pathology-Aware MRI to PET Cross-Modal Translation with Diffusion Models

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2405.16942 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2405.16942/

## Key facts

- Cited by 10 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Placed in Medical imaging and segmentation, one of 14 directions in Diffusion models.
- Builds on 20 of its 35 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 27 May 2024.

## Placed in

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

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

- [Denoising Diffusion Probabilistic Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2006.11239/) (2020)
- [U-Net: Convolutional Networks for Biomedical Image Segmentation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1505.04597/) (2015)
- [High-Resolution Image Synthesis with Latent Diffusion Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2112.10752/) (2021)
- [Denoising Diffusion Implicit Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2010.02502/) (2020)
- [Diffusion Models Beat GANs on Image Synthesis](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2105.05233/) (2021)
- [Deep Unsupervised Learning using Nonequilibrium Thermodynamics](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1503.03585/) (2015)
- [Image-to-Image Translation with Conditional Adversarial Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1611.07004/) (2016)
- [Palette: Image-to-Image Diffusion Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2111.05826/) (2021)
- [BBDM: Image-to-image Translation with Brownian Bridge Diffusion Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2205.07680/) (2022)
- [Dual Diffusion Implicit Bridges for Image-to-Image Translation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2203.08382/) (2022)
- [Unsupervised Medical Image Translation with Adversarial Diffusion Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2207.08208/) (2022)
- [ResViT: Residual vision transformers for multi-modal medical image synthesis](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2106.16031/) (2021)
- [Diffusion-based Image Translation using Disentangled Style and Content Representation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2209.15264/) (2022)
- [Seeing What a GAN Cannot Generate](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1910.11626/) (2019)
- [Make-A-Volume: Leveraging Latent Diffusion Models for Cross-Modality 3D Brain MRI Synthesis](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2307.10094/) (2023)
- [Bidirectional Mapping Generative Adversarial Networks for Brain MR to PET Synthesis](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2008.03483/) (2020)
- [Generating Realistic Brain MRIs via a Conditional Diffusion Probabilistic Model](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2212.08034/) (2022)
- [GANBERT: Generative Adversarial Networks with Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers for MRI to PET synthesis](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2008.04393/) (2020)
- [GANDALF: Generative Adversarial Networks with Discriminator-Adaptive Loss Fine-tuning for Alzheimer's Disease Diagnosis from MRI](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2008.04396/) (2020)
- [Learning Myelin Content in Multiple Sclerosis from Multimodal MRI through Adversarial Training](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1804.08039/) (2018)

## Built on by (most cited first, 10 of 10)

- [Deep Generative Models for 3D Medical Image Synthesis](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2410.17664/) (2024)
- [Plasma-CycleGAN: Plasma Biomarker-Guided MRI to PET Cross-modality Translation Using Conditional CycleGAN](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2501.02146/) (2025)
- [Cyclic 2.5D Perceptual Loss for Cross-Modal 3D Medical Image Synthesis: T1w MRI to Tau PET](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2406.12632/) (2024)
- [XOCT: Enhancing OCT to OCTA Translation via Cross-Dimensional Supervised Multi-Scale Feature Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2509.07455/) (2025)
- [Diffusion Bridge Networks Simulate Clinical-grade PET from MRI for Dementia Diagnostics](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2510.15556/) (2025)
- [Cortex-Grounded Diffusion Models for Brain Image Generation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2601.19498/) (2026)
- [Adaptive Clinical-Aware Latent Diffusion for Multimodal Brain Image Generation and Missing Modality Imputation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2603.09931/) (2026)
- [Translating MRI to PET through Conditional Diffusion Models with Enhanced Pathology Awareness](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2603.18896/) (2026)
- [Spectral Consistent Flow for One-step 3D Medical Image Translation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2607.10627/) (2026)
- [Bridging Modalities on the Cortex: Surface-based MRI to PET Translation with a Diffusion Bridge](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2609.20147/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Positron emission tomography (PET) is a well-established functional imaging technique for diagnosing brain disorders. However, PET's high costs and radiation exposure limit its widespread use. In contrast, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) does not have these limitations. Although it also captures neurodegenerative changes, MRI is a less sensitive diagnostic tool than PET. To close this gap, we aim to generate synthetic PET from MRI. Herewith, we introduce PASTA, a novel pathology-aware image translation framework based on conditional diffusion models. Compared to the state-of-the-art methods, PASTA excels in preserving both structural and pathological details in the target modality, which is achieved through its highly interactive dual-arm architecture and multi-modal condition integration. A cycle exchange consistency and volumetric generation strategy elevate PASTA's capability to produce high-quality 3D PET scans. Our qualitative and quantitative results confirm that the synthesized PET scans from PASTA not only reach the best quantitative scores but also preserve the pathology correctly. For Alzheimer's classification, the performance of synthesized scans improves over MRI by 4%, almost reaching the performance of actual PET. Code is available at https://github.com/ai-med/PASTA.