# Versatile Cardiovascular Signal Generation with a Unified Diffusion Transformer

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2505.22306 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2505.22306/

## Key facts

- Cited by 7 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Placed in Medical imaging and segmentation, one of 14 directions in Diffusion models.
- Builds on 43 of its 106 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 28 May 2025.

## Placed in

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

## Builds on (most cited first, 30 of 43)

- [Denoising Diffusion Probabilistic Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2006.11239/) (2020)
- [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)
- [Score-Based Generative Modeling through Stochastic Differential Equations](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2011.13456/) (2020)
- [Scalable Diffusion Models with Transformers](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2212.09748/) (2022)
- [Generative Adversarial Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2203.00667/) (2022)
- [Overcoming catastrophic forgetting in neural networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1612.00796/) (2016)
- [Scaling Rectified Flow Transformers for High-Resolution Image Synthesis](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2403.03206/) (2024)
- [iCaRL: Incremental Classifier and Representation Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1611.07725/) (2016)
- [WaveNet: A Generative Model for Raw Audio](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1609.03499/) (2016)
- [DiffWave: A Versatile Diffusion Model for Audio Synthesis](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2009.09761/) (2020)
- [Continual Lifelong Learning with Neural Networks: A Review](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1802.07569/) (2018)
- [ProlificDreamer: High-Fidelity and Diverse Text-to-3D Generation with Variational Score Distillation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2305.16213/) (2023)
- [A Comprehensive Survey of Continual Learning: Theory, Method and Application](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2302.00487/) (2023)
- [Conditional Image Generation with PixelCNN Decoders](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1606.05328/) (2016)
- [Overcoming catastrophic forgetting with hard attention to the task](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1801.01423/) (2018)
- [Diffusion Schr"odinger Bridge with Applications to Score-Based Generative Modeling](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2106.01357/) (2021)
- [AudioLDM: Text-to-Audio Generation with Latent Diffusion Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2301.12503/) (2023)
- [CSDI: Conditional Score-based Diffusion Models for Probabilistic Time Series Imputation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2107.03502/) (2021)
- [All are Worth Words: A ViT Backbone for Diffusion Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2209.12152/) (2022)
- [Grad-TTS: A Diffusion Probabilistic Model for Text-to-Speech](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2105.06337/) (2021)
- [Efficient Diffusion Training via Min-SNR Weighting Strategy](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2303.09556/) (2023)
- [A Comprehensive Survey of AI-Generated Content (AIGC): A History of Generative AI from GAN to ChatGPT](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2303.04226/) (2023)
- [One Transformer Fits All Distributions in Multi-Modal Diffusion at Scale](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2303.06555/) (2023)
- [Denoising Diffusion Bridge Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2309.16948/) (2023)
- [Vidu: a Highly Consistent, Dynamic and Skilled Text-to-Video Generator with Diffusion Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2405.04233/) (2024)
- [Memory Replay with Data Compression for Continual Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2202.06592/) (2022)
- [AFEC: Active Forgetting of Negative Transfer in Continual Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2110.12187/) (2021)
- [Incorporating Neuro-Inspired Adaptability for Continual Learning in Artificial Intelligence](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2308.14991/) (2023)
- [CardioGAN: Attentive Generative Adversarial Network with Dual Discriminators for Synthesis of ECG from PPG](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2010.00104/) (2020)

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

- [RefineBridge: Generative Bridge Models Improve Financial Forecasting by Foundation Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2512.21572/) (2025)
- [GuidedBridge: Training-freely Improving Bridge Models with Prior Guidance](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2606.03119/) (2026)
- [Signal or Noise? Understanding Generative Models for Real-World Sensor Time Series](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2607.04245/) (2026)
- [HIPNO: Symmetry-Aware Physics-Informed Neural Operators for Noninvasive Hemodynamic Inference](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2608.10011/) (2026)
- [Physics-informed Diffusion Generative Model for Time-Series Data Synthesis in Dynamic Systems](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2608.10941/) (2026)
- [SR-Edit: Region-Aware Image Editing via Self-Refinement](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2609.02504/) (2026)
- [Focus, Align, and Diffuse: Time-Series-Aware Keyframe Diffusion for Cardiac Dynamic Synthesis from Sparse Observations](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2610.19050/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Cardiovascular signals such as photoplethysmography (PPG), electrocardiography (ECG), and blood pressure (BP) are inherently correlated and complementary, together reflecting the health of cardiovascular system. However, their joint utilization in real-time monitoring is severely limited by diverse acquisition challenges from noisy wearable recordings to burdened invasive procedures. Here we propose UniCardio, a multi-modal diffusion transformer that reconstructs low-quality signals and synthesizes unrecorded signals in a unified generative framework. Its key innovations include a specialized model architecture to manage the signal modalities involved in generation tasks and a continual learning paradigm to incorporate varying modality combinations. By exploiting the complementary nature of cardiovascular signals, UniCardio clearly outperforms recent task-specific baselines in signal denoising, imputation, and translation. The generated signals match the performance of ground-truth signals in detecting abnormal health conditions and estimating vital signs, even in unseen domains, while ensuring interpretability for human experts. These advantages position UniCardio as a promising avenue for advancing AI-assisted healthcare.