# On The Robustness of Foundational 3D Medical Image Segmentation Models Against Imprecise Visual Prompts

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.16383 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2601.16383/

## Key facts

- Cited by 2 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 10 of its 18 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 23 Jan 2026.

## Builds on (most cited first, 10 of 10)

- [PyTorch: An Imperative Style, High-Performance Deep Learning Library](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1912.01703/) (2019)
- [Segment Anything](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2304.02643/) (2023)
- [Segment Anything in Medical Images](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2304.12306/) (2023)
- [SAM-Med2D](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2308.16184/) (2023)
- [SegVol: Universal and Interactive Volumetric Medical Image Segmentation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2311.13385/) (2023)
- [A Comprehensive Survey on Segment Anything Model for Vision and Beyond](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2305.08196/) (2023)
- [uniGradICON: A Foundation Model for Medical Image Registration](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2403.05780/) (2024)
- [nnInteractive: Redefining 3D Promptable Segmentation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2503.08373/) (2025)
- [multiGradICON: A Foundation Model for Multimodal Medical Image Registration](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2408.00221/) (2024)
- [Zero-shot Domain Generalization of Foundational Models for 3D Medical Image Segmentation: An Experimental Study](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2503.22862/) (2025)

## Built on by (most cited first, 2 of 2)

- [DCSNet: Multiscale Feature Aggregation for Small Medical Object Segmentation with Detection-guided Hierarchical Cropping](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2606.28402/) (2026)
- [SetPlanner: A Lightweight Plug-in Point-Set Planner for Frozen SAM](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2609.18037/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

While 3D foundational models have shown promise for promptable segmentation of medical volumes, their robustness to imprecise prompts remains under-explored. In this work, we aim to address this gap by systematically studying the effect of various controlled perturbations of dense visual prompts, that closely mimic real-world imprecision. By conducting experiments with two recent foundational models on a multi-organ abdominal segmentation task, we reveal several facets of promptable medical segmentation, especially pertaining to reliance on visual shape and spatial cues, and the extent of resilience of models towards certain perturbations. Codes are available at: https://github.com/ucsdbiag/Prompt-Robustness-MedSegFMs