# DeFloMat: Detection with Flow Matching for Stable and Efficient Generative Object Localization

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.22406 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2512.22406/

## Key facts

- No citing papers in the map yet (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Placed in Medical imaging and segmentation, one of 14 directions in Diffusion models.
- Builds on 13 of its 19 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 26 Dec 2025.

## Placed in

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

## Builds on (most cited first, 13 of 13)

- [Deep Residual Learning for Image Recognition](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1512.03385/) (2015)
- [Denoising Diffusion Probabilistic Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2006.11239/) (2020)
- [Denoising Diffusion Implicit Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2010.02502/) (2020)
- [Faster R-CNN: Towards Real-Time Object Detection with Region Proposal Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1506.01497/) (2015)
- [End-to-End Object Detection with Transformers](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2005.12872/) (2020)
- [Mask R-CNN](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1703.06870/) (2017)
- [Flow Matching for Generative Modeling](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2210.02747/) (2022)
- [Feature Pyramid Networks for Object Detection](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1612.03144/) (2016)
- [YOLOv4: Optimal Speed and Accuracy of Object Detection](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2004.10934/) (2020)
- [Generalized Intersection over Union: A Metric and A Loss for Bounding Box Regression](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1902.09630/) (2019)
- [Sparse R-CNN: End-to-End Object Detection with Learnable Proposals](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2011.12450/) (2020)
- [Soft-NMS -- Improving Object Detection With One Line of Code](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1704.04503/) (2017)
- [DiffusionDet: Diffusion Model for Object Detection](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2211.09788/) (2022)

## Abstract (arXiv)

We propose DeFloMat (Detection with Flow Matching), a novel generative object detection framework that addresses the critical latency bottleneck of diffusion-based detectors, such as DiffusionDet, by integrating Conditional Flow Matching (CFM). Diffusion models achieve high accuracy by formulating detection as a multi-step stochastic denoising process, but their reliance on numerous sampling steps (T gg 60) makes them impractical for time-sensitive clinical applications like Crohn's Disease detection in Magnetic Resonance Enterography (MRE). DeFloMat replaces this slow stochastic path with a highly direct, deterministic flow field derived from Conditional Optimal Transport (OT) theory, specifically approximating the Rectified Flow. This shift enables fast inference via a simple Ordinary Differential Equation (ODE) solver. We demonstrate the superiority of DeFloMat on a challenging MRE clinical dataset. Crucially, DeFloMat achieves state-of-the-art accuracy (43.32%   AP10:50) in only 3 inference steps, which represents a 1.4× performance improvement over DiffusionDet's maximum converged performance (31.03%   AP10:50 at 4 steps). Furthermore, our deterministic flow significantly enhances localization characteristics, yielding superior Recall and stability in the few-step regime. DeFloMat resolves the trade-off between generative accuracy and clinical efficiency, setting a new standard for stable and rapid object localization.