# ReCo-Diff: Residual-Conditioned Deterministic Sampling for Cold Diffusion in Sparse-View CT

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.02691 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2603.02691/

## 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 16 of its 22 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 3 Mar 2026.

## Placed in

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

## Builds on (most cited first, 16 of 16)

- [Adam: A Method for Stochastic Optimization](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1412.6980/) (2014)
- [Score-Based Generative Modeling through Stochastic Differential Equations](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2011.13456/) (2020)
- [Classifier-Free Diffusion Guidance](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2207.12598/) (2022)
- [Diffusion Posterior Sampling for General Noisy Inverse Problems](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2209.14687/) (2022)
- [Improving Diffusion Models for Inverse Problems using Manifold Constraints](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2206.00941/) (2022)
- [Deep Convolutional Neural Network for Inverse Problems in Imaging](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1611.03679/) (2016)
- [Cold Diffusion: Inverting Arbitrary Image Transforms Without Noise](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2208.09392/) (2022)
- [I2SB: Image-to-Image Schr"odinger Bridge](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2302.05872/) (2023)
- [DuDoNet: Dual Domain Network for CT Metal Artifact Reduction](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1907.00273/) (2019)
- [Direct Diffusion Bridge using Data Consistency for Inverse Problems](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2305.19809/) (2023)
- [Deep-neural-network based sinogram synthesis for sparse-view CT image reconstruction](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1803.00694/) (2018)
- [TorchRadon: Fast Differentiable Routines for Computed Tomography](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2009.14788/) (2020)
- [FreeSeed: Frequency-band-aware and Self-guided Network for Sparse-view CT Reconstruction](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2307.05890/) (2023)
- [Learning to Distill Global Representation for Sparse-View CT](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2308.08463/) (2023)
- [CoSIGN: Few-Step Guidance of ConSIstency Model to Solve General INverse Problems](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2407.12676/) (2024)
- [Cross-view Generalized Diffusion Model for Sparse-view CT Reconstruction](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2508.10313/) (2025)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Cold and generalized diffusion models have recently shown strong potential for sparse-view CT reconstruction by explicitly modeling deterministic degradation processes. However, existing sampling strategies often rely on ad hoc sampling controls or fixed schedules, which remain sensitive to error accumulation and sampling instability. We propose ReCo-Diff, a residual-conditioned diffusion framework that leverages observation residuals through residual-conditioned self-guided sampling. At each sampling step, ReCo-Diff first produces a null (unconditioned) baseline reconstruction and then conditions subsequent predictions on the observation residual between the predicted image and the measured sparse-view input. This residual-driven guidance provides continuous, measurement-aware correction while preserving a deterministic sampling schedule, without requiring heuristic interventions. Experimental results demonstrate that ReCo-Diff consistently outperforms existing cold diffusion sampling baselines, achieving higher reconstruction accuracy, improved stability, and enhanced robustness under severe sparsity.