# HUR-MACL: High-Uncertainty Region-Guided Multi-Architecture Collaborative Learning for Head and Neck Multi-Organ Segmentation

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.04607 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2601.04607/

## Key facts

- No citing papers in the map yet (data through 7 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 14 of its 27 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 8 Jan 2026.

## Builds on (most cited first, 14 of 14)

- [Attention Is All You Need](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1706.03762/) (2017)
- [U-Net: Convolutional Networks for Biomedical Image Segmentation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1505.04597/) (2015)
- [TransUNet: Transformers Make Strong Encoders for Medical Image Segmentation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2102.04306/) (2021)
- [Deformable Convolutional Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1703.06211/) (2017)
- [Vision Mamba: Efficient Visual Representation Learning with Bidirectional State Space Model](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2401.09417/) (2024)
- [Mamba-UNet: UNet-Like Pure Visual Mamba for Medical Image Segmentation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2402.05079/) (2024)
- [UTNet: A Hybrid Transformer Architecture for Medical Image Segmentation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2107.00781/) (2021)
- [Dynamic Snake Convolution based on Topological Geometric Constraints for Tubular Structure Segmentation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2307.08388/) (2023)
- [CS2-Net: Deep Learning Segmentation of Curvilinear Structures in Medical Imaging](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2010.07486/) (2020)
- [A Good Student is Cooperative and Reliable: CNN-Transformer Collaborative Learning for Semantic Segmentation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2307.12574/) (2023)
- [FocusNetv2: Imbalanced Large and Small Organ Segmentation with Adversarial Shape Constraint for Head and Neck CT Images](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2104.01771/) (2021)
- [COSST: Multi-organ Segmentation with Partially Labeled Datasets Using Comprehensive Supervisions and Self-training](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2304.14030/) (2023)
- [A Novel Hybrid Convolutional Neural Network for Accurate Organ Segmentation in 3D Head and Neck CT Images](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2109.12634/) (2021)
- [Deep Mutual Learning among Partially Labeled Datasets for Multi-Organ Segmentation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2407.12611/) (2024)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Accurate segmentation of organs at risk in the head and neck is essential for radiation therapy, yet deep learning models often fail on small, complexly shaped organs. While hybrid architectures that combine different models show promise, they typically just concatenate features without exploiting the unique strengths of each component. This results in functional overlap and limited segmentation accuracy. To address these issues, we propose a high uncertainty region-guided multi-architecture collaborative learning (HUR-MACL) model for multi-organ segmentation in the head and neck. This model adaptively identifies high uncertainty regions using a convolutional neural network, and for these regions, Vision Mamba as well as Deformable CNN are utilized to jointly improve their segmentation accuracy. Additionally, a heterogeneous feature distillation loss was proposed to promote collaborative learning between the two architectures in high uncertainty regions to further enhance performance. Our method achieves SOTA results on two public datasets and one private dataset.