# Transformer with Leveraged Masked Autoencoder for video-based Pain Assessment

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2409.05088 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2409.05088/

## Key facts

- Cited by 7 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 9 of its 21 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 8 Sep 2024.

## Builds on (most cited first, 9 of 9)

- [Attention Is All You Need](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1706.03762/) (2017)
- [An Image is Worth 16x16 Words: Transformers for Image Recognition at Scale](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2010.11929/) (2020)
- [VGGFace2: A dataset for recognising faces across pose and age](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1710.08092/) (2017)
- [MARLIN: Masked Autoencoder for facial video Representation LearnINg](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2211.06627/) (2022)
- [FaceX-Zoo: A PyTorch Toolbox for Face Recognition](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2101.04407/) (2021)
- [Improving Position Encoding of Transformers for Multivariate Time Series Classification](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2305.16642/) (2023)
- [Py-Feat: Python Facial Expression Analysis Toolbox](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2104.03509/) (2021)
- [Twins-PainViT: Towards a Modality-Agnostic Vision Transformer Framework for Multimodal Automatic Pain Assessment using Facial Videos and fNIRS](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2407.19809/) (2024)
- [Faces of Experimental Pain: Transferability of Deep Learned Heat Pain Features to Electrical Pain](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2406.11808/) (2024)

## Built on by (most cited first, 7 of 7)

- [Efficient Pain Recognition via Respiration Signals: A Single Cross-Attention Transformer Multi-Window Fusion Pipeline](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2507.21886/) (2025)
- [PainFormer: a Vision Foundation Model for Automatic Pain Assessment](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2505.01571/) (2025)
- [Multi-Representation Diagrams for Pain Recognition: Integrating Various Electrodermal Activity Signals into a Single Image](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2507.21881/) (2025)
- [Tiny-BioMoE: a Lightweight Embedding Model for Biosignal Analysis](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2507.21875/) (2025)
- [A Lightweight Transformer for Pain Recognition from Brain Activity](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2604.16491/) (2026)
- [A Unified Tokenization Framework for Pain Recognition using Heterogeneous 3D Modalities](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2607.19716/) (2026)
- [ReFace: Reorganizing Facial Spatiotemporal Representations for Improved Pain Assessment](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2607.19722/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Accurate pain assessment is crucial in healthcare for effective diagnosis and treatment; however, traditional methods relying on self-reporting are inadequate for populations unable to communicate their pain. Cutting-edge AI is promising for supporting clinicians in pain recognition using facial video data. In this paper, we enhance pain recognition by employing facial video analysis within a Transformer-based deep learning model. By combining a powerful Masked Autoencoder with a Transformers-based classifier, our model effectively captures pain level indicators through both expressions and micro-expressions. We conducted our experiment on the AI4Pain dataset, which produced promising results that pave the way for innovative healthcare solutions that are both comprehensive and objective.