# MedLoRD: A Medical Low-Resource Diffusion Model for High-Resolution 3D CT Image Synthesis

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.13211 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2503.13211/

## Key facts

- Cited by 3 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Placed in Medical imaging and segmentation, one of 14 directions in Diffusion models.
- Builds on 17 of its 24 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 17 Mar 2025.

## Placed in

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

## Builds on (most cited first, 17 of 17)

- [High-Resolution Image Synthesis with Latent Diffusion Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2112.10752/) (2021)
- [Adding Conditional Control to Text-to-Image Diffusion Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2302.05543/) (2023)
- [Improved Denoising Diffusion Probabilistic Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2102.09672/) (2021)
- [TotalSegmentator: robust segmentation of 104 anatomical structures in CT images](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2208.05868/) (2022)
- [MONAI: An open-source framework for deep learning in healthcare](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2211.02701/) (2022)
- [Validation, comparison, and combination of algorithms for automatic detection of pulmonary nodules in computed tomography images: the LUNA16 challenge](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1612.08012/) (2016)
- [Self-attention Does Not Need O(n2) Memory](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2112.05682/) (2021)
- [MAISI: Medical AI for Synthetic Imaging](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2409.11169/) (2024)
- [Conditional Diffusion Models for Semantic 3D Brain MRI Synthesis](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2305.18453/) (2023)
- [Hierarchical Amortized Training for Memory-efficient High Resolution 3D GAN](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2008.01910/) (2020)
- [SADM: Sequence-Aware Diffusion Model for Longitudinal Medical Image Generation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2212.08228/) (2022)
- [MedSyn: Text-guided Anatomy-aware Synthesis of High-Fidelity 3D CT Images](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2310.03559/) (2023)
- [ControlNet-XS: Rethinking the Control of Text-to-Image Diffusion Models as Feedback-Control Systems](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2312.06573/) (2023)
- [Generating Realistic Brain MRIs via a Conditional Diffusion Probabilistic Model](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2212.08034/) (2022)
- [Feature Extraction for Generative Medical Imaging Evaluation: New Evidence Against an Evolving Trend](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2311.13717/) (2023)
- [Transformer-based out-of-distribution detection for clinically safe segmentation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2205.10650/) (2022)
- [Unconditional Latent Diffusion Models Memorize Patient Imaging Data: Implications for Openly Sharing Synthetic Data](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2402.01054/) (2024)

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

- [Knowledge-Guided 3D CT Generation: A Conditioning-Centric Taxonomy](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2608.09992/) (2026)
- [VolDiT: Controllable Volumetric Medical Image Synthesis with Diffusion Transformers](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2603.25181/) (2026)
- [CardioDiT: Latent Diffusion Transformers for 4D Cardiac MRI Synthesis](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2603.25194/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Advancements in AI for medical imaging offer significant potential. However, their applications are constrained by the limited availability of data and the reluctance of medical centers to share it due to patient privacy concerns. Generative models present a promising solution by creating synthetic data as a substitute for real patient data. However, medical images are typically high-dimensional, and current state-of-the-art methods are often impractical for computational resource-constrained healthcare environments. These models rely on data sub-sampling, raising doubts about their feasibility and real-world applicability. Furthermore, many of these models are evaluated on quantitative metrics that alone can be misleading in assessing the image quality and clinical meaningfulness of the generated images. To address this, we introduce MedLoRD, a generative diffusion model designed for computational resource-constrained environments. MedLoRD is capable of generating high-dimensional medical volumes with resolutions up to 512×512×256, utilizing GPUs with only 24GB VRAM, which are commonly found in standard desktop workstations. MedLoRD is evaluated across multiple modalities, including Coronary Computed Tomography Angiography and Lung Computed Tomography datasets. Extensive evaluations through radiological evaluation, relative regional volume analysis, adherence to conditional masks, and downstream tasks show that MedLoRD generates high-fidelity images closely adhering to segmentation mask conditions, surpassing the capabilities of current state-of-the-art generative models for medical image synthesis in computational resource-constrained environments.